Day #10
Scripture Reading: Genesis 36 - 39 ...
Every day, all over the
world, people live life and face unexpected circumstances, not knowing how
things are going to turn out. You and I
don’t know what the rest of today will bring, let alone tomorrow. But God DOES!
Life in this world is not a bunch of unconnected, isolated events. What happened in the past affects your
choices today and your choices today affect what decisions you make
tomorrow. What most people fail to
realize is that there is another factor to consider! GOD is at work in the world, and in a very
special way in the lives of those who know and love Him!!
God's plan to save a remnant from the human race
from His just judgment against our sin was made even more difficult by God's
decision to use sinful people to accomplish His purposes along the way.
Only the wisdom and power of God could use even the foolishness,
wickedness and evil of mankind to lead to the coming of the Savior. God
had chosen Jacob rather than his brother, Esau, and God’s protection of Jacob
and His oversight of the details of his life was another display of God's
intention to keep His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ... His promises to
be their God, to multiply their descendants, to give them the land of Canaan
and to bless all nations through the promised "Seed" ... JESUS!
Meanwhile, God had told Abraham that his
descendants would be strangers in a country not their own, and that they would
be enslaved and mistreated there for four hundred years (Genesis 15:13).
What a strange prediction, yet it would come true through the jealousy of
Joseph’s brothers and the providence of God over circumstances that seemed like
chance events. Who could have imagined
that God’s promise to make Abraham’s descendants a great nation would happen
while they were in slavery in this foreign land? And who could have devised the plan that now
played out in Joseph’s life? Could the
same be true in your life? Is God wise
enough and powerful enough to do what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans
8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who
love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
God had predicted that Abraham’s descendants would
be slaves in a foreign land, but He had also promised that He would deliver
them. The events of Genesis 37-39 set the stage for God's plan to unfold. God gave Joseph dreams ... dreams that would
come true in God's timing. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery in
Egypt, but God blessed him in everything he did - first in the household of
Potiphar and then in prison. God was at work in Joseph's life, even
though it sometimes didn’t look like it.
It can sometimes be difficult to keep a “positive attitude” when things
happen that are so unfair. How did
Joseph do it? He knew God! And because He knew God, He trusted God. What an important lesson to learn.
But why have Joseph go through all of this, and why
have Jacob go through such heartbreak, and why the upcoming famine, and why
would Israel have to go through 400 years of slavery in Egypt and why ... … … …
??? We like to ask, "Why?",
don't we? In fact, we can hardly keep ourselves from asking "Why?" in the daily circumstances of
our lives. You see, WE want to be in control; it is in our very nature to
want to determine how things will go and what will happen next. But God
calls HIS people to live by faith. I know that's not a very good answer
for a lot of people, but it's true. The key to living life with God is in
knowing His character and trusting Him. It eliminates a lot of the
"Why's." Living by faith moves you to live like Joseph (and all the
others listed in Hebrews 11!!).
God blessed Joseph, as He blessed Noah, Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, because He chose them to be His and showed them His love and
favor - His amazing grace ... SO THAT they and those who came after them would
live to bring Him glory and tell the world about the God who keeps His
promises. God promised a Savior and through these people God would bring
His Son into the world. This same God is at work in the world today, and
in your life and mine. Just as we see in Joseph's life, nothing happens
by chance. God’s providence, His
sovereign rule over all the details of your life and mine, is the rock upon
which our faith is built.
How often do you hear people say, “Everything has a purpose”? Why do people say that? Some people may say it simply because they
NEED to believe it, even though they have no basis for doing so. Everyone needs hope when “bad” things happen,
whether in their own lives or in the lives of those around them. But in order for there to be purpose and
meaning in everything SOMEBODY needs to be in control. Either things happen by chance and it’s all
up to “luck,” or the God who created this world is at work, using even the
sinful acts of men to accomplish His purposes!
Make no mistake, you and I are responsible for the
sin in our lives ... all the wrong choices, the rebellion, the evil in this
world … all these are the responsibility of sinful people. But our God
reigns! He is wise enough and powerful enough to overrule what Satan and
evil men try to do and to bring good out of evil. To those who come to Him through faith in
Jesus Christ there is forgiveness and new life - for today, tomorrow, forever!
KNOW that He is at work in the circumstances of YOUR life and that
trusting in Him, placing your hope in Jesus brings peace of heart and mind that
you will find nowhere else.
Joseph could have become depressed and overwhelmed
by such a string of “bad luck.” He could
have become angry and questioned whether God was with him. Instead, he responded to his circumstances
with faith and hope, submitting his will to God’s will, and God used him to
accomplish more than Joseph could have imagined when sold as a slave by his
brothers. How much more can you and I
trust our Father in heaven today? Trust
and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!
"Father, trusting You seems so hard sometimes,
until we remember who You are and what You have done to save us from our sins.
Give us grace to trust Your wisdom and power, to ask fewer 'Why's' and to
come to You as children, trusting You to work all things for the good of those
who love You and who are called according to YOUR purpose ... and for Your
glory. In Jesus' name, Amen"
Amen.
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