RustyView.com

I have recently gone through some things in my life that have brought me to a new appreciation of God’s provision as well as his presence. I have felt pains in my heart that seemed to make the simple act of breathing feel like one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I fought through sadness, anger, depression, and fear. I cried out to the living God and felt no immediate relief. Time slowed and the world outside me was overshadowed by the dark fog that hung over my mind.

I knew that this couldn’t be the end, that somewhere there was hope, that in some way God would deliver me.

The writer of Hebrews commands us to trust God in what he has given us because he has promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” And there amidst the loneliness and pain, there is hope in God’s faithfulness to unfaithful people such as me. The almighty God has made a promise to us and in his promise there is life.

In the last week I have come to experience God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in some amazing ways. He spoke to me reminding me of his love and peace.

Genesis 37 through 50 gives an account of the life of Joseph, a simple shepherd boy that becomes second in command in Egypt. While Joseph’s story in the whole seems to be a tale of success, it is scarred by betrayal, dishonesty, loneliness, pain and loss. Joseph is betrayed by the brothers he loved, thrown into a pit, sold as a slave, framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and forgotten for two years in prison. Yet somehow Joseph gets through it all. He doesn’t give in to the anger he felt towards his brothers, the fear he felt in the pit, the shame he felt as a slave, the bitterness of being framed, or the complete loneliness that must have come with being forgotten in chains.

Scripture doesn’t point towards Joseph’s inherit strength or positive attitude as the source of his ability to continue on, rather it states time and time again throughout the account of his life that Joseph moved along because, as scripture says, “the Lord was with him.” The powerful truth in this phrase is subtle, but profound. The Lord’s presence is essential to life and growth.

After all of his hardship Joseph is thrown into a position as second in command of the entire nation of Egypt. After interpreting the dreams Pharaoh has concerning famine, Joseph is put in charge of preparing for and surviving the famine of Pharaoh’s dreams.

It is during this time that Joseph’s brothers, starving and afraid, go to Egypt with the hopes of buying some provisions. When Joseph sees his brothers, instead of being overcome with anger and getting the revenge that most would say is due to him, Joseph shows them mercy and grace. He doesn’t punish them or kill them, but instead gives them great provisions and shares with them all of the benefits that God has bestowed upon him.

After everything he has been through Joseph says to his brothers,
“Come near to me please… I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life… it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

Joseph recognizes that God was with him every step of the way, and now calls his brothers to draw near to him. As painful as it was God brought him to a place that he could help not only his family, but an entire nation. While his brothers would be tempted to live in depression about what they did to Joseph, he speaks against this telling them that God ordained what had happened.

There are two things that really come out of this that help me to focus on the grace that God has for us. First, as the writer of Hebrews says, God is with us and will not forsake us. In the midst of the darkness and pain God was with Joseph. While Joseph may have faced depression and loneliness in the pit, he was never really alone. When he was forgotten in prison by the servant of the Pharaoh, God never forgot him. God never betrayed him or judged him unfairly.

While at times it may be hard to relate to the stories of the Old Testament, great truths are often revealed in light of the New Testament. Throughout the account of Joseph’s life, scripture purposefully points out that the Lord was with Joseph and all that he did. This is a huge parallel with what we see God doing in the redemption of the world through his Son Jesus. When Matthew gives an account of Jesus’ life he makes reference to a prophecy concerning Jesus’ birth.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

We were initially created to be in a relationship with the one true God, but sin changed our relationship. Essentially in our sin, we each say to God that we are in control and therefore have no need for him. We rebel against the way our lives were purposely ordered and in turn we rebel against the one who gave it order. However instead of giving us the punishment that we justly deserve, like Joseph in Genesis, God has mercy on us.

Michael Wittmer writes about this saying, “when [mankind] rebelled and got themselves in trouble, this God would do anything necessary to love them back to wholeness.” When we rebel against God we are rebelling against a part of ourselves, the part that gives us life and meaning. God will not allow us to continue on in our brokenness. Therefore He willingly sent Jesus, fully God and fully man, to restore our relationship. What man needs to fix his brokenness is God himself.

Immanuel… God with us… Jesus…

The entire land of Egypt as well as Joseph’s family was starving and in great need of sustenance, and God provided for them through Joseph. Joseph’s painful life ultimately led to God’s provision for Joseph and his family. Likewise all of mankind is spiritually starving for a relationship with the living God, and God in his infinite mercy provided. Jesus himself said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

In the moments of my pain and sorrow that I have recently known, I have found great comfort in these truths. As God’s child, redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus, I have never been forsaken. God has never abandoned me despite the appearance of my circumstances. I have never truly been alone. As beings created to live in community we long to be near others, however we often overlook the most important relationship, our relationship with our creator and redeemer, who has given us both his presence and his provision.

Before Jesus allowed himself to be arrested and crucified, he comforted his disciples saying, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”

Though we are not able to physically walk with God in flesh in the actual man of Jesus Christ, God has provided his presence for us even today. Jesus’ words about not leaving us as orphans are a reference to his Holy Spirit that lives among us and within the heart of believers today.

In 1 Corinthians Paul writes to the church of Corinth against them blatantly living in sin arguing that the Holy Spirit dwells within them. He writes, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”

God has given us a helper and guide and ultimately his presence in our everyday lives. And it is in this presence that God has really given us hope for a future.

While you may be suffering now, joy comes in the morning.  1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…” I pray that you would trust that He has given you the opportunity to be called a son or daughter of God for those that believe upon the name of Jesus. He will never leave his children.

In the darkness of your pain you are not alone. There is hope. God will provide. Jesus Christ provided a way for us to know God and to experience the same mercy and grace he showed to Joseph, which Joseph in turn showed to his brothers…

God’s greatest provision came in sending Jesus to live and die an innocent death in order to turn away the wrath of God. While we may be hungry, lonely, in pain, or poverty I pray that we would cherish and cling to God’s gift of salvation. In due time we will be delivered from the darkness and pain in this world, if only we give up trying to control our lives and allow Christ to work through us for his purpose. Let us all learn to love as he loved, believe as he believed, and live in a relationship with our Father in heaven as His perfect son lived. For it is only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that we are able to do these things.

Praise be to God for his abundant grace and steadfast love.

May the God of all provision bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and give you peace. Amen.