We actually had someone say this to us when we lived in Salt Lake a number of years ago. It was during the 2007-08 financial debacle. In our discussion he asked us what's the worst and we replied we could go bankrupt! "So what's the worst that can happen?" he responds. "We could end up living in the car!" "Thank God; you have a car".
How do you respond to that kind of counsel when you're feeling hard pressed. Bottom line is that we knew he was right. We forgot who was in charge. There's an old adage 'You can live about 40 days without food, 6 days without water, but you can't live 1 second without hope'. We're looking into Isaiah today, examining seven good reasons for hope. Today more than ever we as individuals as well as nations as a whole need to understand these realities that are coming our way, probably in the very near future.
This is the last of the Joseph series of teachings, and as always it's a good one. We didn't anticipate in the beginning that we would be this long in the life of Joseph, Jacob and his brothers but it's been well worth it. There has been so much to learn about life and its difficulties, sometimes extreme, and how we can get through them. Obviously, without the Lord, that's tough, if not impossible. Join us in this last chapter.
Let's see. How do the expressions go?
"I'm a truth teller", "I'll always let you know what I think", "I'm just being honest", and on and on it goes. Hmm... where does kindness fit into that equation? There's an old acronym TNK before you speak. Is it True? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? It's the "kind" part that usually gets missed, and without it we're simply extolling our opinion or venting. Usually not a good outcome following that approach. We learn more from Joseph. A lot more. Offending each other. It's probably the most common ailment of the human condition. And reconciling with those who have offended us or whom we have offended is also probably the hardest thing that any of us has or will have to do. Once again, we learn from our continuing saga of Joseph and his brothers.
When C.S. Lewis was asked this question, his response was....
"Because they're the only ones who know how" A Christian father this past week, somewhere in that part of the world that is persecuting Christians, just saw his son tortured, then both of them crucified, hung to suffer for two days before dying. They did not waiver. I can only hope I have that level of courage. Story after story over the centuries give testimony to the power of the Living God through the Holy Spirit because of the reality of what Jesus did for us. Of course, this does not minimize any level of loss and suffering we go through. It doesn't have to be dying by torture. Any of our losses are real. And, hopefully, we see resolution in this life. Joseph's story is not some nicely packaged bedtime bible story. It was real. He did not have hindsight to know how or if his circumstances would ever get resolved. Sometimes it takes nearly a lifetime. But God is always faithful. but 90% how you handle it. And most of the 10% are things that drive a lot of fear our way. Our reaction should result in an ever increasing sense of strength in handling those circumstances, of kindness toward those who have offended, and clear thinking that leads to peace in our lives. That's a paraphrase of power, love and a sound mind, but I think it gets the point across. Let's listen while Nancy continues in the saga of Joseph and his brothers.
If we leave this earth saying 'I did it my way, and I've got all my stuff in tact, and I have sufficiently insulated myself from people.... so I haven't had to experience pain....
That's a life wasted, not a life well spent. Yes, that's exactly what happened to Joseph just prior to getting the call to appear before pharaoh. It had been 2 years of days (kind of an odd way to put it, but a good word-picture when you think about it), two years since the cup bearer was released from prison and had never since that time mentioned a word about Joseph to anyone. And now pharaoh's bad dreams prompted the cup bearer's memory, telling pharaoh of Joseph, the interpreter of dreams. And suddenly Joseph goes from filth and a dungeon to a bath, clean shave and a new wardrobe. There's a lesson here, so let's listen.
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