Message Notes

Bigger Than I Thought: Wk5
03.22.2026

God is bigger than we think, and God has a Purpose in your Problems

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. Genesis 37:3

We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mind and bowed down to it. Genesis 37:6

Here comes that dreamer! they said to each other. Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams. Genesis 37:19-20

The Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. Genesis 37:36

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. Genesis 39:2

When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant.

Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. Genesis 39:3-4

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, Come to bed with me! Genesis 39:6-7

How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? Genesis 39:9

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said,

Come to bed with me! But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. Genesis 39:11-12

She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me.
But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house. Genesis 39:16-18

Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. Genesis 39:20

But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him. Genesis 39:20-21

The LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. Genesis 39:21-22

Because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. Genesis 39:23

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. Genesis 40:23

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you. Genesis 41:39-40

And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you….
So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:5&8

GOD USES PROBLEMS TO….
• DIRECT ME
Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways. Proverbs 20:30

I am glad … not because I hurt you but because the pain turned you to God… 2 Cor. 7:9

GOD USES PROBLEMS TO….
• CORRECT ME
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. Psalm 119:71

…it was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws. Psalm 119:71

GOD USES PROBLEMS TO….
• PROTECT ME

It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong… I Peter 3:17

Joseph said: You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good… Gen. 50:20

GOD USES PROBLEMS TO….
• PERFECT ME

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us – they help us learn to be patient.
And patience develops strength of character.… Romans 5:3-4

GOD USES PROBLEMS TO….
• DIRECT
• CORRECT
• PROTECT
• PERFECT

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good… Gen. 50:20

GOD USES PROBLEMS TO….
• DIRECT
• CORRECT
• PROTECT
• PERFECT

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

This is what the LORD says: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. Jeremiah 29:10