Garwood Presbyterian Church

Overcoming Our Flaws

Genesis 40, Romans 5:3-4, James 1:2-4
#4 in "We Are Overcomers Through Christ"

Introduction: Today we are going to look at "Overcoming Our Flaws." And that is a good thing, because we don't want them to keep hanging around us, causing us trouble. And praise God, because He wants to help us get rid of them.

1. God Helped Joseph With His Flaw
   1. We read from Genesis 40 that Joseph was forgotten in prison.
      1. Why did God allow this, and all the other difficult things that Joseph went through?
      2. Because Joseph had a flaw, and God was going to help him to remove it.
      3. God will do the same thing for you also, no matter what your flaw is.
   2. Joseph's flaw was pride.
      1. Joseph did not take off his "richly ornamented robe" and join his brothers in all the work they had to do. He did not give back to Reuben the extra share of his father's inheritance that was given to him. He pridefully told his brothers a dream that he had that they would bow down to him, which was meant only for himself to know. He then did the same thing with his father about another dream, and was rebuked by him.
   3. God allowed Joseph to spend years in prison and to go through other adversity in his life to change his pride into humility and to develop his character.
   4. It worked, because after years in prison, when Joseph went before Pharaoh and was asked to interpret his dreams, Joseph answered him, "I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." Genesis 41:16.
2. God Allows Adversity in Our Life to Change Our Character for the Better
   1. Romans 5:3-4 said, "[W]e rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."
      1. James 1:2-4 said that our trials can make us more mature and complete.
   2. When hardship comes, we have to make a choice.
      1. We can become harder or more humble. We can resist or repent.
      2. We can be helped, in how we change, or harm ourself in staying the same.
   3. The best thing to do is to work through our problems, finding out why God has allowed them, and changing whatever needs to be changed.
      1. The nation of Israel, in going from Egypt to the Promised Land, did not face up to their problem of not trusting in God, and then spent 40 years in the dessert.
      2. Jesus spent only 40 days in the dessert, because He faced up to the problem of how He was going to save the world. He squarely confronted the devil and his temptations to save the world other than by the cross. Jesus correctly chose to save the world by dying for everyone's sins at Calvary, and His days in the dessert were over.
      3. The question is, how many days will you spend in the dessert?
   4. Just as Jesus used the Word of God to know what was the right thing to do to solve His problem, we should also turn to God's Word in the Bible to know what is the solution to our problems.

      Problem	Solution
      Pride	Humility
      Staying Angry	Forgive
      Worrying and Fearful	Trust God
      Greediness	Give Generously
      Critical	Graciousness
      Selfish	Love

   5. Once we know our problem, we next need to carry out God's solution to our problem.
      1. We can do it the easy way and carry out God's solution ourself.
      2. Or we can do it the hard way and force God to nudge, push, or even knock us down so that we carry out the solution.
      3. The sooner we carry out God's solution, the sooner our problem will go away.

Conclusion: When a grain of sand gets into an oyster, it has a problem. But the oyster takes the problem and turns it into a beautiful pearl. God wants to take your problems and turn them into the pearl of a more beautiful character. And as a Christian and through our relationship with Christ, this thankfully can take place. So, yes, "Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."