Complete in Thee: Joseph: Tested and Triumphant

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Joseph: Tested and Triumphant

I love the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Not only is it an exciting, interesting story of a man who goes from rags to riches overnight, but it is a true account of a man in whose life God mightily worked and who chose to honor God when all else was against him. Joseph went through a great deal when he was young. His brothers made fun of him. Then they threatened to kill him, and instead sold him away to merchants headed for Egypt. Joseph was made a servant to the captain of the guard, and, just as he was doing well, he was accused for doing something he actually had refused to do, and then was cast into prison. It would seem he was just doomed to all kinds of tragedy. Joseph was a perfect advocate for bitterness. And yet, he chose not to be bitter. He let the Lord rule out the circumstances of his life in His own way and timing. Meanwhile, Joseph continued to live a righteous life, marked by uprightness, diligence, submission, patience, and purity, and the Lord blessed him. In the end, he could look back and see how God was using all those events to accomplish His purposes and bring Him glory.

Reading the account of this extraordinary man has really helped me lately as I have felt "weighed under" by some circumstances. My little trials are nothing to Joseph's, and yet I can be like Joseph in the following ways:

By allowing God to use the trials, however big or small, to glorify Himself
By choosing not to let them crust me over with bitterness but instead make me a more Christlike person
By allowing God Himself to vindicate my cause in His own perfect timing

If Joseph could go through all those trials without bitterness or despair, so can I go through what God brings into my life now with a Christlike spirit, despite everything. Like Joseph, I need to love and serve and trust. Praise the Lord for reminding us of these things when we need them most. We serve a wonderful God whom we can trust to take all the pieces of our life and make them into something beautiful!

"But the LORD was with Joseph

and showed him steadfast love

and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge

of all the prisoner who were in the prison.

Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.
The keeper of the prison paid no attention

to anything that was in Joseph's charge,

because the LORD was with him.

And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed."

(Genesis 39:21-23)

3 comments:

Amy said...: That is so good. Wow and I think I have troubles!! Great to see you again Melanie! :); January 26, 2009 at 7:19 PM
Amanda said...: Thanks for the encouragement, sister!; January 27, 2009 at 9:46 AM
Anonymous said...: Joseph's story is such an encouragement! ( And a conviction...:S).; January 28, 2009 at 3:23 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."