Why does God seem to lead us in circles instead of just directly taking us to our destiny? Tony Evans says one reason is that God prepares the people that He wants you to impact when you arrive at your destination. In this lesson on the detours of provision, learn how arriving at your destiny will always involve benefiting those around you.

when he’s ready to change your situation

he can do it

suddenly

immediately

out of nowhere where that comes from wow

bam boom

that god could come so don’t get upset

that you don’t see anything because

you’re in the dark dungeon

because god is doing something over here

that you don’t know the first thing

about until it’s time for god to create

a hookup

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[Applause]

you see what we’ve tried to explain to

all of us doing this series is

that on your way to your destiny there

will be detours

there will be places you didn’t plan to

go

people you never plan to meet

situations you never thought you would

be in

even mistakes you never thought you’d

make

predicaments that you never thought

would be your problem

and it would all

be allowed by a sovereign providential

god

as long as you and i choose to live with

a small god

the circumstances of life will dictate

to us

but the moment you expand the meaning of

god to this

all-encompassing sovereign person when

nothing gets to you unless it passes

through his fingers first

then all of a sudden

you may not like the prison the pit the

problem the predicaments that you’re in

but because you’ve attached him to god’s

sovereign plan

because you understand there is a

blueprint in heaven with your name on it

and it is all designed

to bring you

to your destiny

every believer every christian has a

divine design

for your life

it may be a little foggy right now maybe

a little clear

it may not have been totally manifested

for any number of reasons

but nevertheless

you have one and don’t leave earth

without it

rarely

let’s state it again

rarely

does god take you from where you are

to where he wants you to be in a

straight line

why

why on your route to your divinely

designed purpose for being your destiny

does god bounce you around

all over the place sometimes good

sometimes bad sometimes ugly

number one

is to develop your character

he wants to make you a better person and

he never does that without tests

tests are adverse circumstances that god

causes or allows in order to develop us

spiritually

it’s a test

and nobody gets away from them

you say how long do i have to be in this

test how you pass

because god believes in retesting

but there is a second reason for the

detours

and it is the reason of our message

today

that god

allows detours on his road to destiny

in order to prepare

those who he wants

you to impact

when you arrive at your destiny

let me say it another way

destiny always involves

you benefiting others beyond yourself

let me say that again

your destiny isn’t only about you

so if it’s all about you

and nobody but you

and the only three people on planet

earth is me myself and i

you’ve not yet arrived at your destiny

or even if you’ve arrived at it you

won’t know it

because your destiny is never

only

about

you look at chapter 50

of genesis

the summary chapter we’ve used for this

whole series

he says in verse 19 but joseph said to

them

do not be afraid for i am in god’s place

as for you

you meant it for evil against me but god

meant it for good

in order to bring about this present

result watch this

to preserve many people alive

so therefore do not be afraid i will

provide there’s our word i will provide

for you and your little ones so he

comforted them and spoke kindly to them

he said god brought me here to provide

for you

because your destiny is never only about

you

he is carrying you to your destiny

for you not only to be blessed but for

you to be a blessing

we’ve explained many times the

definition of a blessing

because most people or far too many

people are only getting half the

definition

they want god to do something for them

not necessarily to do something through

them

a blessing is experiencing enjoying and

extending the goodness of god in your

life

so if your blessing starts with you it

won’t be there long

because god is looking for conduits not

just cul-de-sacs

places he can work through not just

people he can come to

your destiny involves you

and the gifting the calling the purposes

god has given you but he wants you to

understand it’s not only about you

because you’re citizens of another

country of another kingdom if you will

you represent another king and he wants

his anthem played

he wants you to know you’re part of

something bigger

now don’t get me wrong

i’m not hating i i know that

you want god to do something to you for

you in you you want god to to bless you

in a certain way you want him to change

something in your life better something

in your life and prove something in your

life reverse something in your life i

know you need god

for you

but your destiny cannot only be for you

he says god brought me to this place

to provide for you

in other words he had somebody else in

mind when he was bringing me my destiny

so here’s how it works

there are two reasons why you can delay

your destiny

where god wants to take you

one reason is you have not passed the

test

you keep failing the test so god can’t

move you to the new grade because you

haven’t passed the test from the

previous grade

so you keep failing the test so he has

to keep retesting so that can delay your

destiny

or

you’re so selfish i’m so selfish we’re

so self-centered that he can’t use us

for the benefit of somebody other than

us

and if he can’t work through you because

you only want him to work to you that

can delay the arrival of your destiny

james chapter 1 says true religion

manifests itself in ministry to others

now

you have to understand

god is always doing more than one thing

at a time that involves you

involves you but because it’s not only

about you

he’s manipulating different things in

different places at different times

until it’s time for the hookup

he’s doing something over here that you

don’t know anything about

all you know is what you’re dealing with

right now

turn to chapter 41.

let’s back up and come forward again

in chapter 41

let’s back up to chapter 40 verse 23

remember in the bible there were no

chapters written we added chapters in

order to be able to find things quickly

so you can kind of just read straight

through particularly the stories in the

bible

the verse 23 of chapter 40 says yet the

chief cup bearer did not remember joseph

but forgot him

here joseph is in prison he interprets

the cup bearer’s dream he tells the

cabal remember me to pharaoh

and the cup bearer forgets him have you

ever been in a situation where it looked

like god was answering your prayer and

the reverse happened

you thought you had an answer

and the exact opposite to the answer

occurred and you want to know god why

you want to do me like this

when god disappoints you

it’s on purpose i hate to tell you that

i hate to tell me that

when god disappoints you he disappoints

you on purpose

it says the cup bearer forgot him after

he had

saved the caprara his life through

interpreting his dream

how long was he forgotten because he’s

in prison oh by the way he’s not only in

prison it says he’s in the dungeon

the dungeon was the

the hole underneath the prison so he not

at the bottom he’s beneath the bottom

in a dark dirty

decrepit location called the dungeon and

he’s there for having done nothing wrong

so he’s an innocent person

in a bad situation

that god allowed

you may be asking the question i don’t

know why god allowed this it’s not fair

uh it’s not right it’s taking too long

that’s his situation

verse 1 of chapter 41. now it came about

at the end of two full years that

pharaoh had a dream and behold he was

standing by the nile so

you i won’t go into all the details but

pharaoh has a nightmare on elm street

he’s got this dream that literally

terrorizes him

and he can’t understand it so pharaoh

calls the professionals to interpret the

dream verse 8. now in the morning his

spirit was troubled so he sent and

called for all the magicians of egypt

and all the wise men and pharaoh told

them his dreams but there was not one

who could interpret them to pharaoh okay

stick it with me now

joseph is languishing in a prison

in the lowest part of the prison called

the dungeon

pharaoh who doesn’t even know who joseph

is

has a dream

that keeps him up all night and troubles

him and he calls the paid professionals

to help him figure out his nightmare

the paid professionals can’t figure out

his nightmare

joseph doesn’t know pharaoh

doesn’t know joseph

the cup bearer knows them both

because the cup bear was in prison with

joseph and he worked for pharaoh

what happened

verse nine then the chief cup bearer

spoke to pharaoh saying i would make

mention today of my own offense pharaoh

was furious for his servants he put me

in confinement in the house of the

captain the bodyguard both me and the

chief baker we had a dream the same

night he and i each one of us dreamt

according to interpretation of his own

dream verse 12 now

a hebrew youth was there

a servant of the captain of the body god

and we related to him and he interpreted

our dreams to each one he interpreted

according to his own dream and just as

he interpreted for us

so it happened he restored me to my

office but he hanged him all of a sudden

the cupbearer’s memory comes back

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wait a minute pharaoh you had a dream

you couldn’t interpret it scared you to

death

two years ago i had a dream scared me to

death

and there was this jewish kid

in jail who interpreted my dream and it

came about just as it happened

when does the cup bearer remember

joseph because remember we read he

forgot him

he remembered it when it was god’s time

for a hookup to occur

god created a nightmare over here

while joseph is in prison over there

and he doesn’t allow the negative event

of joseph to change until the nightmare

occurs over here and he brings to

remember see god knows how to bring

stuff back up in people’s minds

he brings it back to the cupbearer’s

mind about joseph and watch this because

i want to make a big point a big point a

big point it says verse 14 then pharaoh

sent and called for joseph and they

inherently brought him out of the

dungeon where he had shaved himself

changed his clothes and be and came to

pharaoh

now here’s what i want you to know don’t

you miss this

joseph had

absolutely no idea

about the dream had never met pharaoh

he doesn’t know what’s going on he’s in

a hole all by himself

but in less than 24 hours

his world changes

in 24 hours he’s released from prison

in 24 hours

he’s given a shave

in 24 hours

he gets his clothes changed he gets

brand new clothes let me show you what

else happened in 24 hours

because i’m going somewhere with this

20 41 chapter 41 after he interprets the

king’s dream

verse 41 of chapter 41 pharaoh said to

joseph see i have set you over all the

land of egypt then pharaoh took off his

signet ring from his hand and put it on

joseph’s hand and clothed him in

garments of fine linen and put the gold

necklace around his neck

it says and then he he wrote him on the

second chariot verse 43 and they

proclaimed before him bow the knee and

he set him over all the land of egypt

all this happened in 24 hours

okay let’s review because let’s see some

of you saying where you going with this

where you going with this i’m going

somewhere

he’s in jail

he’s forgotten in jail

he’s in the lowest part of jail he’s at

the bottom

he doesn’t know pharaoh he doesn’t know

about the dream he doesn’t know about

anything all he knows is that the cup

bear who i helped forgot me

all of a sudden

somebody comes opening the cell door

says here’s a gillette razor shave

here’s some nice clothes change take a

bath

you going before him because we need

your gifting

we need what god has given you because

the professionals can’t do it

so he took his gift that he only got to

use in jail

he took the gift that he used in jail

and now he’s using it at the white house

he interprets pharaoh’s dream

and what does pharaoh do

give him a signet ring puts a gold chain

around his neck

gives him his own wardrobe gives him his

own limousine service a chariot

makes him second in command

and now everybody in egypt is bowing

their knee

to joseph

this is in 24 hours

now why am i telling you that

i’m telling you to let you know that

when god is ready to move it don’t take

long

when he’s ready to change your situation

he can do it

suddenly

immediately

out of nowhere where that comes from wow

bam boom

that god could come so don’t get upset

that you don’t see anything because

you’re in the dark dungeon

because god is doing something over here

that you don’t know the first thing

about until it’s time for god to create

a hookup

now

because see that’s not the point of the

sermon

but see

y’all like that part of the sermon

because see

joseph got bling now

joseph is the man now

joseph is living large now

joseph has been

blessed

with stuff

having used his gifting

and now

he is out of the pit and in the

palace the problem today is most people

are satisfied with that definition of

blessing

i got more stuff better job more money

better carb nicer clothes nicer house

remember your blessing includes you but

it’s not only about you

look at chapter 45

the story continues

he’s now with his brothers he’s forgiven

his brothers and remember that

forgiveness is easy when you know god is

using it

and here’s what he says to his brothers

who are

who’ve been now faced with joseph who’s

now over them verse 5 of chapter 45. now

do not be grieved or angry with

yourselves because you sold me here for

god sent me before you to preserve your

life

watch this now

you sold

and while you were selling god was

sending

you see that

you were selling me and god was sending

me

you thought you were getting rid of me

and god was preparing to use me

you thought you were messing over me and

all you were doing were blessing me

if they would have known

that their brother was going to wind up

being their provider

they would have never sold them

but god let them sell them

so that god could send them

in order to preserve them he says god

did this to preserve

life verse six

for the famine has been in the land

these two years and there are still five

years in which there will neither be

plowing or harvesting here it is

god sent me before you to preserve you a

remnant in the earth and to keep you

alive by a great uh by a great

deliverance

and it goes on to say in verse 11 there

i will provide for you for there are

still five years of famine to come and

you and your household and all you have

would have been impoverished guess what

the man says he said he didn’t just send

me here to live in a bigger house

he sent me here to preserve you

he sent me here to benefit somebody

other than myself so here it is

when god blesses you spiritually that’s

the most important blessing when he

blesses you materially when he blesses

you circumstantially when he blesses you

influentially when he changes your

status in life and he removes you from

that negative situation keep your eye

open for the blessing he wants you to be

not that’s the blessing that you have

because the shortest way to cut short

your destiny is to only be thinking

about you and not the reason that god

bless you which is always to be a

blessing to somebody beyond you

beyond you

the crisis of pharaoh the crisis in the

culture and by the way

egypt is not a christian nation pharaoh

is not a christian man

he is a

he is a believer in a secular world

in a secular society so all of you who

are working for non-christians

you’re working for pagans people who

don’t know god god knows how to send

nightmares

god knows how to create opportunities in

a secular environment

to stand for god because you’ll find out

in the last sermon that that was the key

to joseph’s life he didn’t apologize for

his faith just because he was in a

secular environment

see he didn’t he didn’t hide his

christianity in order to be accepted by

pharaoh

because we got too many secret asian

christians and god can’t use you if

you’re gonna hide his name

if you’re gonna hide the association

with him

and so

now it’s opened up now now this this

this opportunity to be a blessing has

has been exposed i began to do

some research

and as i looked through the scriptures

it became clear to me

that this was indeed the pattern

god would take personal and detours

positive and negatives

he would then do something in their life

that turned their situation around

and then he would use them to benefit

folks outside of themselves

god told abraham

genesis chapter 12. he said abraham

i want you to leave the land of your

parents

and i want you to go to a land that i

will show you but i’m not going to tell

you about it in advance

i just want you to walk by faith

he says i’m going to show you

now if you follow abraham’s life

he goes through 25 years of detours

25 years of good bad and ugly

and some of the ugly was real ugly

he goes through 25 years of detour

before god and he are ready to come

through before god has set things up

where he has grown up enough and

responsive enough for god to do what

he’s going to do and then god said to

abraham and when i bless you through you

all the nations of the earth will be

blessed

he says hey i got a big plan for you but

you’re not ready for it yet it’s going

to take you 25 years for you to be ready

for what i want to do with your life but

when you come around and grow up and

begin to respond to me like i want you

to respond i will work through you and

when i do my thing through you it’s

going to blow your mind

because it’s going to touch the whole

world

god’s got a world for you to touch

how would a little boy know that giving

jesus

sardines and crackers would give a moby

dick sandwich to 25 000 people

because when your destiny is given to

jesus’s hands he’s not only going to use

it to fill you up he’s going to use it

so you can be a blessing to others

so

don’t be satisfied

to be blessed alone

because your destiny becomes realized

when you decide to be a blessing as well

how do you know when you’re on a

divinely ordained detour

when god has allowed your life to go in

directions that you didn’t plan on

but he has done so with good reason

one of the primary proofs of detours

is when god

gives you glimpses of his presence in

the midst of your crisis

when he shows up in unexpected ways

through people through circumstances

through situations to let you know

he’s giving you a wink he’s in the

vicinity even though he hasn’t changed

the situation

look for his presence in spite of the

problem

and you will discover he is with you

even when things don’t seem to make

sense

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you