There's benefit to working hard.
There's benefit to doing hard things.
In fact, hard work is biblical.
So if you're a young person, don't underestimate the power of doing hard things and working
hard.
Our next biblical example of young people doing extraordinary things comes from the
story of Joseph, found in Genesis, starting in chapter 37.
In the last episode, we looked at Mary, who was a young teenage girl when the Lord used
her in a mighty way.
Like Mary, Joseph was also a teenager when the Lord started to use him and started to
speak to him through dreams.
In Genesis chapter 37, we read about how Joseph started receiving dreams from the Lord, which
involved his older brothers.
Now his older brothers were already jealous of Joseph and had ill feelings towards him.
Really no fault of his own, it was because of how their father viewed Joseph.
He favored Joseph, he treated him differently, he gave him gifts that he didn't give the
other brothers, and he was treated in a different way.
Now this got worse for Joseph when he started sharing with his brothers some of the dreams
that he was having, which involved, through different images, basically involved them
bowing down to Joseph.
They did not appreciate this.
And it led, culminated in them planning things against their brother Joseph.
And they had a lot of options for how they could handle this, right?
But it got to the point where they're deciding to do something drastic.
And they ultimately decided, after throwing him in a pit and talking about it, they then
decided to sell him to some slave traders that were walking by, and then they faked
his death and told his father that Joseph was attacked by a wild animal.
So now, teenage Joseph, who did have a lot going for him before this event, he was hearing
from the Lord through dreams, his dad favored him at home, things were good.
He now finds himself in slavery in Egypt.
He's a foreigner in a foreign land.
Probably feels lonely around people who aren't from the same place that he was from.
Probably felt confused, you know?
He's hearing from the Lord, it feels like the Lord has something for him, but now he's
bottom of the bottom.
He's a slave in a foreign land.
But the Lord was with him.
Chapter 39 of Genesis, verses 2-3 says this, the Lord was with Joseph, and he became a
successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.
His master saw that the Lord was with him, and the Lord caused all that he did to succeed
in his hands.
Joseph took a situation that was bad and turned it around.
How?
Through hard work.
He could have sat in his self-pity and wallowed, but he chose instead to work hard and do it
for the Lord.
The Lord blessed him because of his attitude, because of how he trusted in him, and because
he decided to put his head down and work hard and do things excellently, even though he
was in a bad spot.
And just when things were looking up for Joseph, he finds himself in a position of authority
in his master's house.
He finds himself having some freedoms that other slaves might not have.
Things are going well, they take a turn for the worse again.
He's framed for something that he didn't do because he made a good, honorable decision,
and he's instead put into prison.
So once again, he finds himself in a position where he's alone, confused, lost, not sure
what to do, not sure why he ended up where he ended up.
Things were going well, the Lord was using him, and now he's in prison.
So what does he do?
The same thing that he did before.
Genesis 39.21 says,
Once again, Joseph trusted in the Lord and worked hard, and he was blessed and elevated
because of it.
And not only that, but the Lord's allowing him to be in a place where he's going to gain
skills that he's going to use later on in his life.
In prison, he's developing leadership skills.
He was elevated to a position of leadership over the other prisoners in the prison.
He's gaining valuable skills that he doesn't know what he's going to use it for, but the
Lord did.
And these were divine steps and the Lord's marking his steps.
So he's blessed because he was trusting the Lord and working hard.
There is benefit to hard work.
My high school wrestling coach always told us that we will never regret working
hard.
I didn't appreciate hearing this at the time because he told us this when he was
pushing us and working us hard, when we're doing pushups,
when he was making us sprint, when we're sweating,
when things are hard, that's when he would say,
you'll never regret working hard. So at the time I didn't really appreciate it.
But what I've learned since then is that he was right.
There's benefit to working hard.
There's benefit to doing hard things. And in fact, hard work is biblical.
So if you're a young person,
don't underestimate the power of doing hard things and working hard.
I would say do hard things and work hard on purpose.
Push yourself, gain new skills,
do things that are difficult, that are hard to learn. Do those things.
Even if you think no one is watching because the Lord is,
he sees your hard work and he will bless you.
Joseph found himself in this situation a lot where he's in prison.
He's working as a slave.
He's doing hard things and he's not sure why or for what benefit.
He doesn't know who's watching or what, how this is all going to turn out.
And maybe that's how you feel.
Maybe you're in school and you don't like school. You don't like math,
but it's hard work. You're up late doing homework,
or maybe you're in a job that is not what you're passionate about or what you
ultimately want to do. Do hard work.
Do it excellently. Do it for the Lord. He sees you.
He's watching you and he'll bless you for it.
Joseph didn't know it at the time,
but the Lord was preparing him for something big through all of his steadfastness
and through all of his hard work.
Eventually Joseph goes from being a slave in a foreign land to a prisoner in a
foreign land to Pharaoh's right hand man, Pharaoh, the leader,
the king of Egypt. He becomes Pharaoh's right hand man, number two,
in all of Egypt,
the guy who's supposed to lead Egypt through a difficult famine and not just
lead Egypt,
but he ended up saving Egypt and surrounding countries.
People from all over came to get food because Joseph was prepared because he
was hearing from the Lord because he trusted in the Lord and the Lord elevated
him to save tons of people from a famine because he was trusting in the Lord and
knew that God had a divine plan for his life.
Even in the moments when he couldn't see it,
even in the moments when it didn't make sense,
he still chose to trust in God and work hard.
And the Lord used him powerfully because of that choice that Joseph made.
And he had to make that choice over and over again throughout his life.
It wasn't just one time.
He had to continually choose to trust in God despite the circumstances that he
found himself in.
Constantly choose to continue to work hard in places that he didn't want to be,
like a slave master's house, like prison.
And maybe you're a young person who can relate to Joseph today.
Maybe you feel lost, isolated, alone.
Maybe you feel like a foreigner. Maybe you're confused.
Maybe you're unsure of what God's plan for your life is.
I would encourage you to do what Joseph did.
Trust in the Lord and work hard because the Lord sees you.
He knows you. He cares about you and he loves you.
He does have a plan for your life. Even if you can't see it yet,
he can and he knows the plan. So put God on the throne of your life.
Trust in him. And when you do that, when you put God on the throne of your life,
when you submit yourself humbly under him,
he'll blow your mind with where he'll take you and how he'll use you.
So trust in him, follow him.
He will lead you and guide you. Follow him and trust him just like Joseph did.
Next episode, we will summarize what we can learn from these biblical examples,
what truths and knowledge we can take from the Bible and apply.
If we're young people ourselves in Generation Z,
what can we take from the Bible and apply to our lives?
What can we share with our friends? And if we have young people in our life,
how can we use the Bible to lead them and guide them?
So that's where we'll head next episode.