I. Ezek. 22:30 “I sought for a man among them”

A. Jer. 5:1 “if ye can find a man” & Isa. 6:8 Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

1. What God is looking for in a man / woman:

A. Acts 13:22 “a man after my own heart”

B. God looks for a man / woman from a different perspective than man does:

1. 1 Sam 16:7 “The Lord looketh on the heart”

II. When God finds that man / woman: He then prepares that individual for His glory:

A. Abraham: 25 years of preparation

B. Moses: 40 years of preparation

C. David: his entire childhood & adolescent years as a shepherd & confrontation with a giant & bear

D. Paul: Three years in a desert / wilderness experience: Gal 1:16-18

E. Joseph: was cast into a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused & imprisoned, forgotten by the butler

1. 22 years later his dream began to come to pass: Psalms 105:16-22

a. The devil did not send Joseph to prison

b. Man may have been involved / Satan thought he was in control, but God sent Joseph before them vs 17

c. Just as the devil did not send Jesus to the Cross: it was the plan of God: 1 Cor 2:7-8

2. Many times our preparation is not easy: Psalm 105:18

a. “Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron”

3. Timing of God determines the length of our preparation & seasons of life: Psalm 105:19

a. “Until the time that his word came”

(1) Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,

(2) Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

4. The process of preparation removes the dross out of our life: See Proverbs 25:4, Rom 8:29, 2 Cor 3:18

a. “The word of The Lord tried him’ Def Tried: purge, melt, fuse, refine like a goldsmith

III. We need not fear the devil, man nor circumstances. We have a promise of God to strand upon during our times of preparation:

A. Gen 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

1. Man may have meant to do harm towards you

2. The devil may have had evil intentions to destroy you

3. “But God meant it for good..”

a. Results: “to save many people alive”

(1) Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

(a) Keys for all things working together for good in our life:

(b) love God

(c) called according to God’s purpose / not our purpose