Sunday Message · Fountain of Grace International · Pretoria North

When Life Deliberately Gets Worse Before It Works Out

Name: When Life Deliberately Gets Worse Before It Works Out
Uploaded: 2025-03-01T12:00:00+02:00
Channel: Pastor Ricardo Zaal
Description: When Life Deliberately Gets Worse Before It Works Out

You had a clear plan. Then betrayal, false accusations, or circumstances beyond your control derailed everything. Now you're wondering if your life will ever move forward. What if this detour is actually the route to something better?

Pastor Ricardo Zaal · Fountain of Grace International, Pretoria North

The Pit Is Not the Grave

When Joseph's brothers threw him into a pit, they intended it as a death sentence. But Joseph's first principle was simple: I'm in a pit, not a grave. That distinction saved his mind. Right now you might feel like you're in one. Job loss after someone betrayed you. Health problems that killed a career you trained for. False accusations that destroyed your reputation. A dream that repeatedly fails no matter how hard you work.

The difference between a pit and a grave is that a pit has a way out. A grave is final. Your situation-no matter how dark-is temporary. This is the hardest truth to believe when you're inside it, but it's the one that keeps you moving instead of giving up.

Never giving up is not motivational talk. It's a principle. Your father might give up after years pass with no sign of hope. Most people do. But the people who navigate detours to their real destiny refuse to accept that the darkness is permanent.

When God's Plan Looks Nothing Like Your Dream

Joseph had a dream. A real one. His brothers had dreams too-they dreamed of getting rid of him. What Joseph didn't see in his dream was the pit, the slave market, the false accusation, the prison cell. He was sold by his own family. He was enslaved. He was imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. By any fair measurement, his life was ruined.

Romans 8:28 says God works all things for good to those who love Him. Not just the good things. Not just the days when your bank account is full. All things. Your husband leaving. Money going into the wrong account. The betrayal. The layoff. These are part of 'all things.' You cannot see how they work for good from inside them. Joseph couldn't either.

What Joseph learned-and what you have to learn-is that your specific dream might need to die so your actual destiny can live. He wanted to be a carpenter like his father Jacob. But being in a pit, a slave house, and a prison stripped away his ability to control his outcome. The only thing left was to trust that there was a reason. And there was. When he interpreted the king's dream about the coming famine, he saved not just Egypt, but his entire family. His brothers who sold him came to him for help. He couldn't have done that if he'd gotten what he originally wanted.

Integrity When No One Is Watching (and When Everyone Is Watching)

Potiphar's wife wanted Joseph. He was a slave in her house. No one would have blamed him. In fact, giving in might have gotten him out of slavery faster. He could have become her favorite, lived better, avoided the hard work. Instead, he refused. He said no. And for saying no to her, he went to prison.

This is where most people break. You do the right thing and you get punished for it. Your integrity doesn't protect you. It doesn't make life easier. It makes it harder in the moment. So why maintain it? Because integrity is not a strategy to get what you want. It's a principle that guides you toward who you become. Proverbs 11:3 says the integrity of the upright guides them. Not protects them-guides them. Your character becomes your compass when circumstances are pulling you in every direction.

Joseph's refusal to compromise didn't save him from prison. It saved him from becoming the kind of man who compromises. And when the king needed someone he could trust with Egypt's entire future, that man with unbroken integrity was the only one who could do it. The detour through the pit, the slave house, and the prison wasn't punishment. It was the path. And his character was what carried him through it.

Your Purpose Is Bigger Than Your Pain

Joseph's brothers thought they were destroying him. Instead, they were moving him toward a position where he could feed his entire family during a famine-including the brothers who sold him. He couldn't see that while he was in the pit. He couldn't see it in slavery. He couldn't see it in prison. But it was always the direction he was moving.

When you help enough people get where they want to go, you end up where you were meant to be. This isn't karma or luck. It's a principle built into how the world works. Your job might feel like it doesn't matter. You might think it's just a paycheck. But if you're teaching, you're building people. If you're working in healthcare, you're preserving life. If you're in business, you're solving problems. Every act of integrity and effort creates value that comes back to you in ways you don't expect.

The detour isn't punishment for a wrong turn. It's the long route that builds something in you that the short route never could. You can't see the palace from inside the pit. You can't see the purpose while you're being falsely accused. But the people who trust that there is a purpose-who refuse to give up and refuse to compromise-they find it.

Three Principles That Work Anywhere, Anytime

First: never give up. Your situation is a pit, not a grave. It's temporary, even when it feels permanent. The hand of the law is long-the truth will reveal itself eventually, even if it takes years.

Second: trust God's plan in the middle of adversity. You cannot judge from inside your circumstances whether they're leading you in the right direction. But if you've ever seen someone's life from beginning to end, you know that the detours made sense. The setbacks created the person they became. The unfair treatment taught them something they needed. Trust that the same is true for you, even though you can't see how yet.

Third: maintain integrity regardless of the situation. Your character is the only thing you fully control. People can take your job, your reputation, your freedom. But they can't take your refusal to become someone who compromises. That integrity becomes the compass that guides you through the dark places and the foundation that builds your real destiny.

What to Do Monday Morning

Stop measuring your life against the dream you had before the detour. The dream might have been real, but it might not have been the destination. Read the story of Joseph from beginning to end. Notice how the thing he thought he wanted-to be with his father, to be respected by his brothers, to avoid suffering-isn't what he got. What he got was better, but he had to lose everything else first to see it.

The people reading this who are in a pit right now-betrayed, wrongly accused, repeatedly failing-hear this: your life is not over. It's being redirected. You have no way to see from where you're standing where it's going. But if you refuse to give up, trust that there's a reason, and keep your integrity intact, you will find that the detour was the only path that could have made you who you needed to become.

"The detour isn't punishment-it's the route that builds something in you that the short way never could."
- Pastor Ricardo Zaal

Key Takeaways

Never Give Up on What Matters When you're in darkness, the pit feels like a grave. But a grave is final and a pit has a way out. Your circumstances are temporary even when they feel permanent. Most people give up when hope fades. The people who navigate detours to their real destiny keep moving when everyone else stops. This isn't motivation-it's a principle that works regardless of how you feel. Your refusal to quit is what keeps you alive to the moment when things turn.
Trust an Unseen Plan Over Your Visible Dream You can see the dream you wanted. You cannot see God's plan. This creates the unbearable tension where doing everything right still gets you thrown into a pit, enslaved, and imprisoned. Romans 8:28 doesn't say good things work out for good. It says all things-even the betrayals, the false accusations, the unfair losses-work for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Your specific dream might need to die so your actual destiny can live. Trust that the detour is the route, even though you can't see where it leads.
Integrity Is Your Only Unfakeable Asset When no one is watching and compromise would make your life easier, you maintain your character anyway. When you're falsely accused and your integrity costs you everything, you refuse to become someone who bends. Proverbs 11:3 says integrity guides you-not protects you, but guides you. In the pit, in slavery, in prison, Joseph's character was the only thing that remained his. When the moment came that required absolute trustworthiness, he was ready because he'd been building it all along. Your integrity is the compass that works in the dark.

If you are in Pretoria North, come on a Sunday - these messages are preached live every week at Fountain of Grace International, 323 B Danie Theron Street.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the detour never ends? What if I'm stuck in this situation for years?

Joseph was in a pit, then slavery, then prison for years before he saw his destiny. He didn't know how long it would last. He only knew that giving up wouldn't help and that maintaining who he was-someone with integrity who refused to quit-was the only thing within his control. The length of the detour isn't a sign you're going the wrong way. It's often a sign that something deeper is being built in you.

I feel like I did everything right and still got punished. How is that fair?

It's not fair by the standards of the world. Joseph didn't deserve the pit, slavery, or prison. But fairness isn't the principle at work. Growth is. The unfair treatment stripped away everything that wasn't essential and built character that nothing else could have built. The moment you can see that the unfair thing had a purpose-not that it was right, but that it created something valuable-the pain shifts from meaningless suffering to meaningful growth.

How do I know if I should keep pursuing my dream or let it go?

If your dream requires you to compromise your integrity or abandon something more important-like your health, your family, your character-then the dream itself is the detour. Joseph had to let go of being a carpenter because his lungs couldn't take the dust. The loss of that specific dream opened the way to a bigger destiny. Ask yourself: would I rather have this dream or be the kind of person who gets there with integrity intact? The answer usually tells you whether to hold on or let go.

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Fountain of Grace International meets every Sunday at 09:00 at 323 B Danie Theron Street, Pretoria North. Come as you are.

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Oh, I live for you alone, every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake. Lord, have your way in me. Lord, I give you my, I give you my soul. I live for you alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake. Lord, have your way in me. Who gave you my... give you my self I gave you my I gave you my self I give you my I give you my self Lord, Lord, I give you my, I give you my soul I live for you, Lord Every breath that I take Every moment I'm waiting Lord, have your way in me Lord, I give you mine I give you my soul I live for you, Lord Every breath that I take Every moment I'm with you Lord, have your way in me. Give me my heart and give me my soul. Give me my heart and give you my soul Lord I give you my heart I give you my soul I live for you alone Every breath that I take Every moment I'm awake Lord have your way in me Jesus, Jesus, Jesus I want to thank God for your allowing us to be evident in our midst to showing Him I mean to show us, not him, to show us that he is still God. To show us that he is still God. Now, today I want to talk about the Joseph principle. Now, Joseph principle, as we all know the story about Joseph in Genesis, when you're looking at Genesis 50 and verse 20 it says you intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives and the principle of Joseph it has so many principles that we can love by. I mean, if you're looking at it, the principle of darkness is that there's no light. That's a principle. There's nothing you can change except for putting on some light So that the principle That's the principle. But as for you, you taught evil against you, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass and it is this day to save many people's lives. to save many people's lives. So the principle of Joseph is literally how to navigate detours to your dreams and to your destiny. To your dreams and destiny. So my title of the message is The Joseph Principle Navigating Detours to Your Dreams and Destiny. And in this series of sermons, we're going to go through a few principles that will help us to accomplish things that God wants us to accomplish. and you know when god wants us to accomplish something you're ready long time set principles that we need to work from or through i mean there's a principle for argument's sake of of South Africa is that when you do criminal activities you go to jail I know in I know in Afrikaans on se die lang arm van die gereg like if i can explain it in english it means that law will go his course and regardless how long it will take you will be caught one or the other time you will be caught like like if i take the law of south africa although some of the some people don't allow the law of south africa to to make things better in south africa you know the one of those are the chortures you know you know when i talk about georgia is the urang utang kind of life what the urang utang kind of life is it's i don't know um what is the urang utang in english it's like an ape-like creature the hands sit like this and it has big hands whenever it walk it walk with the hands backwards not penguin yeah not that one yeah you but penguin does this most it's not like this but there's a Come and Google them. So there's this thing called. Yeah. In English. Orangutang. Something. Orangutang. Yeah. Aha. Hey. You are good. So it refers to a large reddish brown ape with long arms, like long arms, and native to the rainforest of Buneo and Sumatra, and the name translates a person of forest from Malay. so in South Africa they live ways because they put the money here and that makes the law to be bad now one thing I can tell you there are certain things that is a principle that once you breaking it you had to live by another principle if our argument said now the principle of cleansiness is that you have to use water to clean yourself that's a principle and it doesn't have to be water but sometimes it can be a tree that you can use to wash yourself sometimes it can be a anything that you like rain for argument's sake making you to get clean but once you break that law of cleansiness you're making another law and now you are dirty and you live by the law of dirt you see so when life you go through life there needs to be some principles that you have to follow. The principle of debt, being in debt to somebody else, makes you to be a slave to the lender. That's a principle. The principle of mishandling your money takes you to a place where you'll be poor because now you're mishandling the money. So there's so many laws but when I look at Joseph I'm like yo this guy had so many laws or not laws I do call it principles instead of laws. He had so many principles that it made him to become a better person than what his brothers was. If I look at the first principle, that being in a pit, it's a principle that you need to tell yourself that I'm in a pit, I'm not in a grave. So gravity is a law. And it's also a principle of whatever you put up must come down. Now when I look at that principle of things that goes up that comes down pushing Joseph to be in a pit Because he was up there and putting him in a pit And when he was put in a pit, one of his principles is not to give up. Not to give up. So how bleak and dark and bad your situation is. If you live by the principle of not giving up, I can tell you, you will win a lot of battles. You will win a lot of battles. So why Joseph principle? I mean, why am I calling it Joseph principle? it's because it's a timeless biblical framework that he as Joseph was working from and I can tell you now with the life of Joseph if we can zoom out we call it yeah zoom out If you can zoom out of his life and look from it, from the point one to the point last, you will see everybody have a dream. Doesn't matter what you dream of. Even if you dream of being the best criminal, it's a dream. Everybody has a dream. But the thing is, not everybody follows their dream. So there's a principle of dreams. So you have to have a principle of dream. I'm looking at it. some of us think that when you have a dream it's all glorious one day you're going to wake up and you be like wow i did it but the dream is never that easy First there somebody that says if you are dreaming and you want to make that dream to be true, wake up first and get out of bed. Because a dream can only be a dream once you wake up and making it happen. Joseph had a dream. But do you know what his dream did? His dream made his own blood to be against him. His own blood to be jealous of him. His own blood to be sold out. It's like selling him. They sell him. And the nicest part of it is that when you're looking at the whole holistic kind of thing, the thing that they were jealous of, which was the coat of many colors, that is what the brothers were jealous of. it's the same thing they used to set up lives because what they did he got this nice outfit from his father and the brothers got jealous they throw him in the pit take this thing that they were jealous about putting it from let's say she blood luckily that time there was no investigations like DNA investigations and things like that this guy is dead, here is the outfit how come imagine if there was DNA test if available DNA test let's do the test quickly this microbiome this thing but it doesn't show human blood this is a different kind of blood that is on this cloth. So who killed this guy but left no blood of him You see So if we would have been in a modern society like today we wouldn have taken it by face value Having a cloak saying he died we wouldn have taken it We would have gone to social media and put on Facebook, my son is gone now for three days, please help me find him putting a picture of him everywhere putting up a picture everywhere but you know what the principle that Joseph lived by his father didn't you know why I'm saying like this the father when the father saw the cloth, he gave up because it becomes years and years. He has not seen his son. So he gave up while Joseph kept on keeping on. It's a principle that one have to live by. It's never to give up. Never. Don't ever give up. Because that principle of not giving up showing to you that even the situation where you are in at the moment is just temporary. It's just temporary. It's actually a detour to your dreams. I dream of so many things. And when it doesn't come to pass I give up quickly. am I the only human being here have you ever given up I think some of us has given up I remember when I was younger one of the things that I dreamt of is becoming a carpenter I wanted to become a carpenter while you wanted to become a police officer me I wanted to become a carpenter and a carpenter was one of the dreams that I had lo and behold I even took woodwork at school because I want to become a carpenter. I was so focused on becoming a carpenter that I even went to go and work for my teacher doing furniture at his farm after school. you see so that dream I was like I want to do this thing it made me to get into a place where I almost got to it but I couldn't you know why the lungs were not nice. My mother grew up at a place where they had this asbestos. I don't know if you heard about asbestos. It comes from a roof type of thing or a mining area that makes like a small it's almost needle-like particles that you inhale and that makes your lungs to be bad. And that kind of sickness that my mom went through made me also have a problem with my lungs. And I couldn't explore being a carpenter anymore because of the carpenter is too much dust. So I had to give up. But do you know, the carpenter was also the son of God so it doesn't matter if you live by whatever your mental or your mindset or your human being is there's still another purpose in your life and it might not be the dream that you're looking at it might be a part of the things that you are going through. Might be a part of the things that you need to see in order to get a better vision for yourself Because number one I need to i need to tell you now when you are a carpenter you are set to work in an environment where dust is the inevitable but when you're looking at your health do you want to give your health up for your desires or your dream. Because that might be a big price to pay. You see, so your dreams need to be something that you can still give up to because of your destiny. You see, so some dreams is there to also give up to because of your destiny needs to be the one that has the last say. Jesus' last say is to die for us on the cross of Calvary so that we can be redeemed to be loved eternally or to live eternally. Yes. I want you to understand that some of the things that we go through is principles. And it needs to be adhered to. You need to adhere to the principle. Never give up. It's number one. The second principle I can say to you also is to trust God's plan. Trust God's plan Even in adversity Trust God's plan Even in adversity I mean If I go to scripture Romans 8 verse 28 You know Romans 8 verse 28 Is a wow scripture It's a A scripture that Motivate one Even if you go through hard things. As we know that in all things God works for the good for those who love Him Did He say the day when your fridge is full it will work out for good? I don't think He even meant that. Ah, in all things, it works for good for those who love the Lord. Ah, your husband left you. is that not part of the old things you know they got so much money they put wrongly in my account is it only then that you say it worked for good because if it means all things even the bad it works for good for you even the bad for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose. Now what is your purpose? What is his purpose for you? Because through that, you can see the reason why I had to go to gym is to be a bouncer, to stand in front of Satan and tell him, ah, you can come. I'm ready for you. You see, because now going to gym is a lot of discipline. Ask Levin. She will tell you. Going to jump is nip up and flee snipe. It's not. Going to jump starting with 5 kg of dumbbell. It looks small. But start doing it for a long time. Ah, yo, yo, yo. It's not. So, trust God's plan even in adversity. Because Joseph's life was marked by unfair treatment. It was so much of an unfair treatment. I mean, sold him to slavery. Your own people sold you to slavery. Not even people, you know this human trafficking of today they don't know you I mean I won sell my my daughter into slavery unless I am Jocelyn Zemar What is Jocelyn Zemar's name? Kelly. Kelly, yeah. Unless I'm Kelly, I won't. Because even if I'm Kelly, I lost already two sons. What will make you to think I will sell my others? now that I've already lost my two boys hell no that kind of adversity will make me to even fight the worst he's been falsely accused falsely accused imagine this brah come into the palace woman wanting to to be touched and he refused to touch then accusing him of touching him just because of her desire to be touched by him and she was rejected her rejection made her angry and I think in those days maybe she was the one that men never said no to. It's probably why the king was also being struck or pulled into marrying her. Because she couldn't take no for an answer. She has never been rejected. And now somebody rejects her. Now she's accusing him. you got into jail hey imagine you went from a put you get to be slavery then you go into jail it's one bad thing after the other after the other just as you thought I climbed out of this pit now I just climbed out of the pit I just ran out of this foot. nicely they caught they caught me you know where that that thing of they saw they they threw me into the pit for me to die suddenly i saw them coming back you know that nice feeling ah wow i i know they won't do this to me now they pulled you out you get excited you my brother just to find out they are selling you that's the reason they are taking you out hey now when they sell you you are like you at least it's better than to die in the pit now you go there, you work hard and life becomes better because everything you do is in favor of others. But suddenly your favor that everybody have on you comes into a place where everybody wants a piece of you. And now, because they want a piece of you and you reject them, they're jealous. Now they push you into the jail. After you have just done everything so well. Now suddenly he's going to jail. Imagine life is unfair. It's so unfair that through this adversity you're going through, you can never see your palace in a put. You can't see an accuser of that statue that will make you not to go to jail. Because a woman of stature like that woman, the moment she accused you, ah, you are gone. You are finished. You are done. Imagine the president telling you you have done something so badly that you can't even be in this country anymore. The president, his word has the last... I don want to be in that kind of thing But you know what he did He kept on trusting God The principle and I should actually say this is the number one principle, is to trust God's plan. Trust God's plan. Trust God's plan so much. If I read from, from verse 17 in Genesis 15. If I read from verse 17 in Genesis 15, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren and their sin. For they did unto thee evil, and now we pray thee, Forgive the trespass of the servant of God, of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. and his brethren also went and fell down before his face and they said behold we be thy servants they fall into their mistakes now now that they can see they have been caught out after so long time you remember I said the hand of the law earlier on I made an example law of this land the hand of the law is so long they will catch you even after years evidence might not be there but after years the truth will reveal itself I don't want to go into that because that's also a principle the principle of truth the principle of truth is that when you speak the truth all the time you don't have to remember the lies every time. Because the truth is the truth. There's nothing else that you can make up. And I'm not going into that principle now but I'm just saying that's also one of the principles in life. So now he said and Joseph said unto them fear not for I Am I in the place of God? It's like almost as if he's saying, Do I have the judgment? Am I the one that can judge you for what mistakes that you've made? I can't. So many of us have the tendency of telling our brothers and sisters Ah you are useless you are a sinner you are a drunkard you are alcoholic you are a thief. Not knowing that God has the last say. God has the last say. And when God has the last say, ah too bad than a matras somebody must go and sleep too bad you intended to harm me but God intended it for good not just for good but for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives imagine if they didn't put in Joseph into the pit maybe they took him home Joseph would have been one of those that would have stood in front of the king asking for corn or whatever imagine if the interpretation of the dream hasn't been done famine would have striked the whole land it's just because God's prophecy sees was prophesied through the dream that the king had you remember the story net for those of you that don't know the story this dream was was dream about the seven years the seven cow this cow the seven cow that is big and the seven cow that is small or not small but what you call marapol like lini yeah they always mar like thin they don't have food to eat so now this seven cow that is big came swallow the small cow. And then there was a con, something as well, that the seven big ones eat the small big one. I mean, the small one. You know I can why can I remember the thing now correctly But what happened is that the interpretation of the dream was that for seven years it will be a lot of things. The land will be full. There will be so much. But then after that the lean one will come and eat the big one. Something like, do I put it vice versa? But it doesn't matter. The main story is that for seven years it will be a good year. And in that seven years, you have to put away to make the bad years to be better. And Joseph, if he didn't interpret that, everybody would have had a nice time and finishing. It's like somebody who won the Lotto that don't think of tomorrow. Today is a car. I want Bentley. tomorrow is I want 30 million rent worth of house the next day is the house is so big now I need some nice furniture another 30 million rent worth of furniture now the furniture and the house it needs somebody to come and work for for me now employing so everything they do is just to squander the same like the prodigal son thinking that he got to be a millionaire I hit a lot one time just to realize pigstyne is his promised land you see so these things were Joseph's foreseeing, prophesying and if it wasn't for that that he saw that this wouldn't have been the wording that he would have used. It would have been something else. But as for you, you thought evil against me. So you thought you're going to sell me for being jealous of me. You thought you're going to sell me for being my father's favorite. But God meant it unto good. So that's the principle of God's plan for your life But then The second principle I mean the third principle principle the third principle is to maintain integrity regardless of the situation or circumstances repent and maintain integrity in all circumstances what is integrity is integrity the one that says Potiphar's wife is naked here in front of me there's no one around I might as well just do it that's not integrity so Joseph refused to compromise his integrity he refuses to compromise his integrity Imagine Here I'm standing My brother sold me They sold me now And I'm a slave Now this is where most people get it wrongly This is where most people get it wrongly I am the slave The master's wife is looking for the slave immediately you think ah, here I got the the lotto now now that I got the lotto now, I can take this as a key to run away from my slavery and become you know when you are a guy you call the skelempi, nyatsi so now he want to become the nyatze of the of the wife imagine that would have taken him out of of trouble because satisfying potify's wife would have probably given him a smaller portion of the kingdom you know what a smaller portion of the kingdom is being in slavery she would have probably given him food to eat every day because that's what she has authority over taking him out of prison she had authority over that she would have made smaller things or given him smaller things that the king you know that the king gives more than the wife if he would have given up he wouldn't have gotten so much His integrity He maintained it If I go to Proverbs I want us to go to Proverbs Let's do Proverbs Proverbs 11 When you read Proverbs 11 Verse 3 Proverbs 11 verse 3 Proverbs 11 verse 3 Says the following The integrity Of the upright Shall guide them But the But the Perverseness Of transgressors Shall destroy them Imagine the integrity of the upright shall guide them. So your integrity will give you guidance. The integrity of the upright guides them. But the unfaithful are destroyed by the duplicity. Duplicity. What is this word? Duplicity. Imagine. Integrity. Helping you to gain more than what you could have gotten when you were falling for Potiphar's wife's pleasures. you see there's a difference there's a big difference than getting potify's wives potify's wives i want to say reward yeah that what i looking for potify wife rewards or potify own rewards Imagine Potiphar has more say than what the wife has so you can get more than what the wife can give you and the nice part is is it comes back to the to the matthew 5 uh matthew 5 verse 8 where it says blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God so your integrity will make you to see God that's the third rule or the third principle I only went through three and I said to you it will be a series of of principles that we will go through as the weeks go on. And I want you to go back go back to to the story of Joseph. Maybe take some time and read through the story of Joseph. And see the principles that you can come up with. Do you know what the principle is? or must I if I if I take if I take the things that is synonymous to it the synonym of of a principle it's like it's a belief so what do you believe what is the belief it's like a code code you know like the code of of how do you code then it's an opinion a principle it's also like an opinion like an attitude and then lastly like a value like what do you value Imagine There a There a principle That I can say to you now that as much as there is good there is evil That's a principle. Because you cannot see good if there is no bad. It would have been the same thing. I sometimes wish I can have some three days to break down a message because I'm only on number three now. Only on number three now. And yet I still have a long way to go. Because the principles that Joseph lived by caused his destiny to be I'm going to say cause these dreams and destiny to become better like to help others like if I can say to you the one thing that people don't understand is that when you help enough people to get where they want you will get where you want if you help enough people to climb mountains you will find yourself on the mountain peak as well how do you climb a mountain? not to focus on your own pains but to focus on helping others and through helping others the mountain becomes a smaller object in your life. I don't want to sound philosophical, but this is a philosophy that Jesus knew best. Helping others will help you. If I can ask you today, what is the one thing in your life that you know that you gained by helping others. There's so many things in your life. the job you're doing do you think that what you do doesn't help others do you know that as a as a scholar or what do you call it as a scholar your thing that you are helping others with is to groom the people that you are in class with to become better people and you don't know it because of nobody actually make you to understand that it's a stepping stone towards your grown up life. In reverse, the guy that bully you is teaching you better how to work with those bullies at work They teach you There so many bullies at work that sometimes you think to yourself, yo, yo, yo. This guy came with the bullying tactics from school, using it at work now. Okay, I was not supposed to talk about that. But what I'm trying to say is that as much as you help others, you help yourself even the more. Even the more. How to treat a bully is helping the poor bully to know what he's doing is wrong. Guys, stop you. So I want to take the time and leave you with this. I want to leave you with the Joseph principle is to know that regardless where you are at the moment God has a purpose for your life God has a purpose for your life. God has a purpose for your life. Even though you don't see the purpose, but there is. God bless you Heavenly Father as we come up To the end of this We know that you have Made so many things in our lives That we don't understand But yet The understanding of our Natural minds Doesn't allow us To know you But one thing we know is that To know you best is to trust your best. Trust in you, God, that will make things to become different In the mighty name of Jesus Christ I pray that as we go through this week for the god let us see more the principles that joseph lived by than the principles that we are making us not to go anywhere so thank you lord jesus that i know that as we have got it here today father god and look towards the future i know our future will be better because of the things that we are implementing today let us implement the things that is according to your principles father god in the mighty name of jesus christ our lord and savior amen and amen Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ The love of God and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit Rest and abide with us all until Jesus comes Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us All the days of our lives And we shall dwell in the house of the Lord Forever and ever In Jesus name, Amen