Finding Goshen — God Has a Place of Provision With Your Name on It

Sam Dunn taught me to read the Bible a certain way: don't just read the story, put yourself inside it. When he reads about Moses, Abraham, the children of Israel, the apostles — he asks, how would I have acted right there? God gave us these accounts, Sam says, so that we might avoid making the same mistakes. And one word he keeps coming back to is Goshen — the fertile land Pharaoh gave Joseph's family, a place of provision and safety in the middle of a famine. Sam's conviction is simple: God has a Goshen for your life. The only real question is how we get to it.

## First, What Not to Do

Sam starts with a warning straight out of 2 Timothy 3:1–7. In the last days, people will be "lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud... unthankful, unholy, unforgiving... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power." That last line is the one to sit with. A form of godliness that denies the power. You can have the whole costume — the church attendance, the language, the appearance — and still be cut off from the one thing that actually gets you to Goshen.

## Then, What to Do

Jesus is not vague about it. Sam points to Matthew 6 and challenges you to read the whole chapter asking, honestly, do I actually do these things? Because it ends with the key: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). Goshen is added. It is not seized. It comes to those whose first priority is God Himself.

## The Long Road Joseph Walked

Here's the part of Sam's lesson that I can't read without thinking of the men I sit with behind the walls. Watch the actual path to Goshen:

- Joseph tells his brothers his dream (Genesis 37:7–8)
- His brothers sell him to the Midianites (Genesis 37:28)
- Potiphar buys him, sees God is with him, and puts him in charge of everything (Genesis 39:1–4)
- Potiphar's wife lies about him, and Joseph lands in prison (Genesis 39:11–20)
- In prison, Joseph keeps serving God, interpreting dreams — which eventually gets him before Pharaoh and put in charge of all Egypt (Genesis 40–41)
- And finally, Joseph gives his family the land of Goshen to live in (Genesis 45:10)

Read that again. The road to Goshen ran straight through a pit and a prison. Joseph didn't get there in spite of those places — he got there because he refused to stop serving God inside them. I have watched God do this exact thing in a cell. A man who keeps worshiping in the hardest place he's ever been is a man God is positioning, not punishing.

## It Starts With a Conversation

Sam closes with how you begin: start by talking directly to God. He borrowed a line from Mark Batterson that says it perfectly — when we pray, we see things no one else sees, and we see them before others do. "Prayer is the difference between seeing with our physical eyes and seeing with our spiritual eyes. It gives us a God's-eye view." Joseph had that view in the dungeon. So can you.

**If you feel stuck in the pit or the prison of your own life right now,** don't wait for the scenery to change before you talk to God. Reach out — we'll pray with you and help you find the road to your Goshen.