Weekend Message Recap:
This weekend we wrapped up our series on “Transitions”. During which we have been addressing one of our biggest fears, change. Two weeks ago we talked about not reacting in panic and trying to take control of the situation ourselves. Last week we talked about how we should not worry about anything, but rather pray about everything. This week we looked at one thing we should do during these difficult times.
We used the story of Joseph as the backdrop for dealing with major transition. (His story is found in Genesis 37-50) Here is a quick recap of Joseph’s early life:
• God gives him dreams of a great future (which his brothers resent)
• His brothers hate him (for reasons above) and plot to kill him
• Instead of killing him, they decide to sell him as a slave
• Arrives in Egypt and is sold as a slave to Potiphar (captain of Pharaoh's guard)
• Promoted to oversee Potiphar's entire household as a superintendent
• Potiphar’s wife notices him and seeks to have an affair with him (he refuses)
• Potiphar’s wife frames him for rape and he is sent to prison (where he is forgotten)
All throughout the story there is this phrase that may seem strange - based on how bad things look for Joseph. Over and over it says, “And the Lord was with Joseph.” To which our first reaction is, no, God is not with Joseph. If God was with Joseph, then he would not be going through all this bad stuff. If the Lord was with Joseph, his brothers would be in prison and he would be back home sipping cold drinks with his dad. But the Bible says it over and over, in the midst of his difficult transition, God is with Joseph, even when it did not look like it.
You see, we can not look at our circumstances and evaluate correctly whether or not God is active in our life. Things may be great in your life and God is not in on it. Or, things may be terrible and God is with you, right in the middle of it. So, if you are in the midst of difficult transition, not only is God going to work in and through you during it, but God is going to walk WITH you in the transitions of life.
Maybe you are like me, I don’t want to God to deliver me and walk with me through transitions. I want God to BAIL ME OUT of transitions. I don’t want to know that he is with me in this circumstance. I want him to hit the eject button and get me out out of it. But the Bible teaches us consistently that God’s way is to walk with us through difficult times in our life.
So what is the proper response when we are going through a difficult transition? The answer is simple but hard. I need to ask myself, “What would someone in my transition do if they were absolutely confident that God was with them?” Then, do that.
So, today, going through what you are going through, would you be brave enough to ask that question? And once you have asked it, would you pray and ask God to give you the faith, strength, and courage to live it out?
If you do, I am confident that you will be able to speak about your current circumstances in the same spirit that Joseph did when he said to those brothers who started the daisy chain of bad events in his life...
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good...” Genesis 50:20
