“… I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.”
Joseph looked at the brothers who had betrayed him and said, “don’t be distressed, God sent me here.” He didn’t angrily point at them and say “your greed and jealousy caused my imprisonment”…He didn’t relish the thought of getting even… He said, “God sent me here to save lives”.
Is that how I view difficult occurrences in my life?
It is not uncommon to see an athlete point to Heaven after a touchdown… but what about after a fumble? We are good at figuratively pointing to Heaven after successes, but how do we respond to what we perceive as failures?
Joseph trusts God with both.
Scripture says it is impossible to please God without faith- and this is what faith looks like.
I doubt that Joseph counted it as a “win” the day he found himself in the bottom of a pit, narrowly avoiding death, and being sold into slavery. But decades later, he realizes that is exactly what it was.
So, what does it mean to have faith? Does it mean I believe God keeps small promises with reasonable deliverances? Should faith take a back seat to “being realistic”? When God’s plan deviates from mine, do I doubt Him?
What about you? In the bottom of the pit that you are facing right now, are you believing big, or living small? Are you pointing to Heaven in faith, or pointing at others with blame?
The difficulty with perseverance is that there must be trouble to persevere through. You can’t see faith without a threat. So, make your choice. As you face your struggle today, will you be fearful, or will you count it all joy knowing God is in control?
It is motivating to read how Joseph trusted God for decades while going through challenging times. It is encouraging to see how he trusted God and did not allow circumstances to dictate his actions or attitude.
But the real question is… is this just an entertaining story? … Or is it a templet I plan to follow?
“Faith obliterates time, annihilates distance, and brings future things at once into its possession.” - Charles Spurgeon
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