Leaning In To God

How do you survive the hard things in life? How do you interpret your world when ‘disasters’ overtake you? How do you view/understand God in the midst of deep trials and tribulations?

So much can be learned from the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and they are often labels as the patriarchs of our faith. But it is the story of Joseph that I go back to over and over and each time, I seem to learn a little bit more about who God is and how to deal with ‘life’ as it comes at me.

Because we know the end of the story, it is easy to discount the intensity of the circumstances Joseph dealt with along the way. But Joseph dealt with a lot of real life issues from the time he was born. Because his father singled him out as special among his brothers, he dealt with jealousy and with never being ‘one of the guys’. It must have been lonely for him as a child growing up. This must have caused a vicious cycle in family relations as the more his father doted on him, the more his brothers reacted causing his father to dote on him and protect him even more causing the brothers to react even more, etc.

But God… When Joseph was a teenager, God gave him two visions that seemed to totally deny what was happening in the family. His brothers were picking on him now, but in the future, they would be bowing down to him. This was the icing on the cake in terms of how his brothers treated him and even drove them to getting rid of their ‘problem’. They sold Joseph into slavery.

As a slave, Joseph must have wondered about the visions he had. Were they just wild dreams or were they something to hang on to?

But God… Joseph somehow decided to be a man of integrity and to serve his master well. Somehow, he held on to the faith he had learned from his father Jacob and lived by the principles he had been taught. And God caused him to prosper and be promoted to caring for everything in his master’s house. Could I hold on to faith and prosper in an environment I was forced into not of my own choosing?

Then more adversity hit. He was falsely accused of attempted rape by his master’s wife. That landed him in prison. And for several years, Joseph lived in a dungeon. If anything could have caused Joseph to lose hope, this surely could have.

But God… Somehow Joseph was able to be a model prisoner and God once again prospered him and he was soon put in charge of the other prisoners. Joseph must have exuded leadership skills. No matter where he was, he rose to the top. I can’t imagine being anything but depressed in a situation like he was in – falsely accused and forced into a horrible environment.

But God… Because Joseph continued to trust God, he had the opportunity to interpret dreams for two inmates. When his interpretations proved to be accurate, he hoped this would help him be released from prison. But there he sat, year upon year until Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret. Then he was remembered and given opportunity to interpret the dream.

And God… Because Joseph had been faithful and continued to trust in his God, he was given the interpretation and because he was a born leader, he not only interpreted the dream but cast vision for how to deal with the famine that was around the corner. Pharaoh recognized a capable leader when he saw one and immediately put Joseph in charge. And Joseph worked hard for Pharaoh and was rewarded well.

But God… This could have been the end of the story, but God was not done yet. There was one more thing that needed to happen. And the famine did its work in Canaan and eventually brought Joseph’s brothers to him. And just as his vision had indicated, they bowed down before him and then his father came and bowed down before him as well. And the title of this story could have been “Joseph’s Revenge,” but it wasn’t. How hard it must have been for Joseph to work through all his feelings regarding his brothers! It must have taken years of praying to God, trusting God and believing that “all things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purposes,” even though Paul had not yet penned those words of Romans 8:28.

Joseph reveals his understanding of how God works in his words to his brothers when he revealed himself. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” Genesis 45:8a It was Joseph’s belief that God was in control of all of the circumstances he found himself in and that if he was faithful to God, God would prosper him. He believed that God used his brothers to propel him into these circumstances so that he could prepare the way for them to come later and be saved from starvation. He was able to forgive his brothers for what they had done to him because he believed that God was in control even of that circumstance.

I wonder if how I view my circumstances reflects my relationship with God. Can I be totally submitted to Him in a way that would allow me to even prosper under false accusation and finding myself in a place I did not choose for myself? Am I willing to lean in to God and trust his sovereignty even when I am not comfortable with my place or my surroundings?

Lord, may it be so. May I learn to prosper wherever You place me, knowing that You are God, You are sovereign, and You are with me in the good times and in the hard times. Thank You for recording this story of Joseph to help me learn to know You more.

Hold Nothing Back

It’s not a new concept for most of us who have grown up in the church. We talk about “giving our all,” or “sacrificial living,” or “giving until it hurts,” and many other phrases that indicate we are fully yielded to God. But I wonder how much we mean it and live it.

Abraham got it in a way that few people ever do. God said, “Get up and go to the place I will show you.” And Abraham got up and went. God said, “I will give you a son in your old age.” Abraham believed, but gave in to Sarah’s pleading and Ishmael was born. God said, “I still plan to give you a son through Sarah.” And He did and Isaac was born to Abraham when he was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. Amazing!

Now a few years later, God told Abraham to take Isaac and “Go to a place I will show you and sacrifice your son.” And Abraham got up and took Isaac and went! I wonder if you or I would be able to do that. I think I would be saying, “I don’t think I heard you right, God. Surely you don’t mean that. You just gave me this son so it doesn’t make any sense that you would tell me to sacrifice him. Do you want to try again? I’m sure I’ll hear it differently the next time.” But Abraham got up and went!

There are a couple clues along the way that Abraham thought there might be more to it than what appeared at the moment even as he trusted and obeyed. When he left the servants and took Isaac to the place of sacrifice, he said, “We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Genesis 22:5b. It sounds like Abraham is believing what God told him previously about his offspring becoming “too numerous to count.” Genesis 16:10 Yet he continued to go forward with Isaac. He went all the way to binding Isaac and placing him on the altar and raising his knife. Thankfully, God intervened and provided a ram caught in the thicket. Abraham must have felt great relief. [Big sigh!]

For many years, I have read this and would not allow myself to stop and ponder what Abraham was doing. It was so foreign and far from my imagination that a father could slay his son, I would read over it quickly and not allow it to penetrate my mind too deeply. I pushed Abraham and what he did as far out of my focus as I could and focused instead on the trauma of Isaac and wondered how this incident affected his relationship with his father from there on out.

But now, as I ponder, I think, “Talk about a teachable moment!” Surely after the incident was over, Abraham hugged Isaac thanking God for returning his son to him. And he likely took the opportunity to teach Isaac about listening to God and obeying even if he doesn’t fully understand. God can be trusted – even with the most precious belonging we have!
 
“Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Genesis 22:12

Now I must ponder, what is my most precious belonging? Can I give this to God to do with as He will, or do I hold on to it/him/her tightly, fearing what would happen to me if I ‘lost’ this possession. What am I holding back? Could I come to a point of trusting God that would allow me to not just give it up but to actually sacrifice it and leave it to God if He will restore it or keep it?

I cannot come to a place of sacrificial living until I trust in God’s deep love for me. When I realize that God held nothing back including His One and Only Son Jesus in order to provide a way to restore my relationship with Him, I can begin to come to a place of trust that says, “I hold nothing back from You, God. I am willing to sacrifice it all to live in obedience to you.” God used Isaac to bring about Jacob who became Israel and had 12 sons whose descendants became the 12 tribes of Israel and after several generations birthed the Messiah. God can do big things when we are willing to obey – whatever He is asking us to do.

Oh Lord, show me what I am holding back and help me to release my hold on it and live in obedience to You. While I struggle to let go, I can hardly wait to see what you will do with your infinite wisdom, power, and love applied to my most precious possession. Amen.