This thing called LIFE can be REALLY difficult at times, especially nowadays when there seems to be one challenge after another. Everywhere you turn, there seems to be trouble and strife, turmoil and chaos.
At times, even people of God cannot help but ask, “Where is God?” “Does He hear me when I pray?” “Am I all alone?”
May I encourage you today, by letting you know that the answers to all of those questions are, “He is WITH you!” “Yes, He hears you” and “No, you are NEVER alone!”
You see, God is in charge of all that IS, whether it is seen or unseen by human eyes.
God is multi-tasking as He deals with all the issues and concerns that will ultimately result in His promises kept and His unfailing love and faithfulness.
So, even though sometimes we may feel as if we are all alone and that God has abandoned us, I want to assure you that He has His hands on you and He has not taken His eyes off of you for even one second.
May I present the story of Joseph to you as a reminder (Genesis Ch. 37-50):
If you recall God gave Joseph a special promise through his dreams that was positive and desirable for Joseph. He was going to be a leader! He was going to be an influencer that others would look up to. God promised him a HOPE and a FUTURE upfront. (Genesis 37:5-11; Jeremiah 29:11)
However, the path that Joseph had to take that led him to that desirable future, was everything BUT desirable. If you recall, he was hated by his own brothers! Then, because of their intense hatred and jealousy, they decided to throw Joseph into a pit! Their plan and intention was to leave him there to die! After ultimately deciding against that, they then decided to make a profit while still getting rid of their brother by selling him into slavery.
But God was still WITH Joseph! So, even though he was enslaved, he gained the favor of his Master, Potipher, and was put in charge of all that Potipher had. Unfortunately, he was later falsely accused, by Potipher’s wife, of trying to sleep with her and was then wrongfully thrown into prison. Why? Because he REFUSED to sleep with her at her command! She had set the perfect scene and atmosphere, by getting rid of everyone in the house, only to be rejected by her handsome slave, Joseph. So, in her revenge and anger, she lied on him to punish him with undue imprisonment.
Can you even imagine?! Where was God with all of this rejection, trouble, and heartache? What happened to the great future that was promised?
Here is the hard and sobering truth. The difficult path that God had for Joseph ultimately led him to his desired and promised destiny. The good news is, God NEVER forgot about Joseph or His promise to Joseph. On the other hand, God also had a lot more people and situations to address, besides Joseph. Being the omnipresent and all-knowing (omniscient) God that He is, God is always orchestrating many “moving parts.” Put another way, he’s always running the entire universe, simultaneously. I know this is a hard pill to swallow, but the one and only God of the ENTIRE UNIVERSE is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). That includes everyone. So, there is more to the story than just our OWN personal life and perspective.
In this case, Joseph’s life was interwoven within the lives and destiny of many others, as is ours. And so, he had to deal with a LOT of undesirable things on the way to his highly anticipated destiny. Yet, because Joseph remained faithful to God, he was favored and blessed all along the way and was tremendously blessed in the end with the very promise that God had given him years before all of his heartaches began. In the end, Joseph played a MAJOR role in saving the lives of his family and MANY, MANY others besides.
What is the lesson here? There is a necessary process required to reach your destiny.
John 16:33b, reminds us that “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” In other words, we will go through many difficult things in this world, since this world is not our home; but, through them all we must remember that God will be WITH us every step of the way as he leads us to our destiny.
When we are faithful to God, he will open doors that no man can shut and give us favor and help even THROUGH the difficult times. This allows us to hold on to hope as we recognize that God is STILL with us. When times are difficult, God provides us with strength, peace, and perseverance. He is our constant friend and companion through it all.
Also, when we do finally reach our destiny, we will realize that God was there ALL the time and that it was worth it all. As the old hymn says, “We will understand it better by and by.”
At that appointed time, as Joseph did, we will also realize that we are stronger and wiser as a result of our life experiences. We will see that we have grown much and are better prepared for the road that lies ahead. We will also be better equipped to help others along their life’s journey, because we have overcome some of the same obstacles that they will face.
Never doubt! There is PURPOSE in your pain!
Our REAL challenge is to hold on to our faith and simply keep on trusting and obeying God.
Let’s stay the course and remain faithful to our loving and faithful God!
We are destined to OVERCOME!
“My Life is A Tapestry” or “The Weaving”
Author Unknown
My Life is but a weaving between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow and I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
Not til the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.
