Pain as the Pavement to Paradise. January 2, 2011 Slightly Edited after Delivery Introduction We went to Fazoli’s. DQ was next door. We felt called to get an ice cream Sundae and suffer for Jesus. We joke about it because we know that there is real suffering that we experience for Christ. When you look at the promises in Scripture of God’s blessing and then you experience suffering, perhaps you’ve asked: Did I get off of God’s path at some point? Did I make a detour and wind up in the middle of nowhere? My brother David was eating salad swatting a fly and driving when he suddenly looked up and found himself in the middle of an alfalfa field. Have you ever been there in your life? Joseph probably felt that way. He was on God’s path. But he experienced suffering. But that suffering was just the pavement in the road to the throne. The same is true for us: If we are on God’s path, our suffering is just the pavement on the road to paradise. GENESIS While Joseph was on God’s pat...