Get Better or Get Bitter — Joseph's Secret to Overcoming Adversity

Every man alive has been knocked down. That's not the question. The question is what you do after you hit the floor. Do you stay down and let life stomp you? Or do you get up swinging?

Proverbs 24:16 says, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." Notice it doesn't say the righteous man never falls. It says he gets up every single time. The difference between you and the guy who's still down is simple — you're getting back up.

Look at Joseph. His own brothers sold him into slavery. He ends up in a foreign country working for Potiphar. Then Potiphar's wife lies on him and he lands in prison. And here's the part that wrecks me — through all of it, Genesis 39 says "the Lord was with Joseph." Eight times in that chapter, God's blessing shows up.

Your circumstances don't determine God's presence. Let me say that again because some of you need to hear it: just because your circumstance changed doesn't mean God did. Don't believe the lie that your divorce, your job loss, or your repossession means God walked out on you. He promised never to leave or forsake you. He doesn't break promises.

Adversity isn't there to destroy you. It's there to build you. I use the illustration of breaking a horse. You have to pull that horse's head down to its knee. You have to break its will before it becomes productive. Some city slicker might think that's cruel, but it keeps that horse from killing somebody. God does the same thing with our pride. He breaks it so He can build humility in its place.

The Bible is like a mirror. You look in a mirror to see what needs work — the nose hairs, the messy beard, whatever. God's Word shows you the character flaws you need to address. The problem is most of us look in the mirror and then walk away without doing anything about what we saw.

Here's what I tell people: wanting to change doesn't mean anything. Change is what means something. Stop talking about what you're going to do and start doing it. You can stay a loser or you can start winning. That's a word people don't like today, but the Bible uses it. There are winners and losers. The difference is who gets back up.

Joseph went from the pit to the palace. That's a picture of Jesus Christ Himself — He stepped down from the throne, walked this earth, went to the grave, and rose to the right hand of the Father. If God can take Joseph from slavery to second-in-command of Egypt, He can take you from where you are to where He wants you to be. But you have to stop complaining and start trusting.

I thank God for every hard thing I've been through. Every single one of them taught me how to fight. And fighting is what it takes to follow Christ. So get up, dust off, look in the mirror of God's Word, and get to work. You're either going to get better or get bitter. The choice is yours.

*Watch the full sermon: https://youtu.be/d58QKFaBqOk*
*U-Turn World Ministries — Chico, TX | Thursdays 7 PM | Sundays 10:30 AM*