"When God Intercepts the Devil's Plan For You"

Scripture: ""But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. "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." When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the richly ornamented robe he was wearing- and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it." -Genesis 37:18 - 24

As many of you well know, we are in the heart of football season (whether if it is the NFL, the CFL, the UFL (newly formed United Football League), or College Football). One of the most exciting plays in football is an interception. In Super Bowl XXX, in Tempe Arizona, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27 - 17, to win their fifth Super Bowl title. The Cowboys could not have won this game without the defensive play of the Super Bowl MVP and cornerback, Larry Brown. As the Steelers tried to march down the field and score some crucial touchdowns to turn the game around, Brown intercepted two of the passes thrown by Neil O'Donnell, the then Steeler QB, on two occasions, and those interceptions led to two Cowboy touchdowns. In this game called life, the enemy has tried to score many times on us, thus defeating us and the purpose God has for our lives. I can stand here and tell you that God would have not it! God plays defense when it comes to His children and when He sees the enemy on the attack, He intercepts the plots of the enemies. Aren't you glad that He intercepts the enemy's plots for your life? Today's text will provide a Biblical example of this thought.

Today's main scripture is found in the first book of the Old Testament and the Bible, Genesis. By definition, Genesis means "the origin; the beginning". With this said, Genesis illustrates the beginnings of Heaven, Earth, life on Earth, and people. It also discusses the lineage of Adam and Eve all the way down to Jacob's children, ending with the struggles and triumphs of one by the name of Joseph. Within this particular chapter, we learn that Joseph is the 11th child of Jacob, now named Israel, and one that Israel favored. Not only did Israel favor him, but God favored him as well. We knew that his father favored through him because he made him a coat of many colors. According to scholars, this coat of many colors indicated that the wearer would assume family leadership in the future. As you read this chapter, you find that on two occasions, God gave Joseph dreams about him ruling over his family and because of that, his brothers were mad! Haven't you know anyone just to be mad at you because God favored you? Haven't you know anyone to be mad at you because your blessing came before theirs? Because of their madness, these brothers plotted to kill Joseph. With this backdrop, let's go into our main scripture.

Today's main scripture begins with Joseph looking for his brothers and as he came into view, his hateful brothers had a plan. The text reveals to us that the brothers wanted to kill him and throw him down in a cistern or a ditch afterwards and say that an animal ate him. With this thought in mind, then they said, "Then we'll see what comes of his dreams". The enemy's job is simple: it is to kill, steal, and destroy. As he tries to steal, kill, and destroy your life, he wants to eliminate you from achieving the things God has for you. Not only this, the enemy wants to see can you make it after he has hurt you or turned your life upside down.

The next part of the text blesses me. The text moves on to say that "When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. Let's not take his life, he said. Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him". If you recall from earlier in the book of Genesis, Reuben is the oldest brother of them all. Usually when big brother talks, the rest of the family listen. How does this tie into today's topic? Though the enemy's goal was to kill Joseph and not allow him to get to his destiny, God intercepted the enemy's plan by giving Joseph a timeout. Ladies and gentlemen, there are times where things in your life are going to be bad, but God's destiny for your life will still be fulfilled. Many of us were raised in homes that we are ashamed of, but look at what God has done for you now! Just think if the enemy would've kept the poor mentality inside of you, you would have never made it to the place God had for you. Instead, God intercepted the past and made you want to work hard and excel! As the story goes, they did tear up Joseph's coat of many colors, they did throw him into the ditch; however, they did not kill him! See what God did! He intercepted the ultimate goal of the enemy!

In closing, we know that Joseph went on to become second in command in all of Egypt and ended up feeding his family when a famine hit Canaan. Just imagine if God did not intercept the enemy's plan. Joseph's family would've starved to death and died. Because God intercepted the enemy's plan, Joseph provided for his family and in turn, forgave his brothers for the things they did to him. Aren't you glad that God intercepted the enemy's plan for you? If so, you ought to go out, seek God, and find out what is God's destiny for your life and achieve it!