Pastor Jim is in the middle of a wonderful sermon series on Genesis. He reminds us each week that these stories are our legacy, and that the Bible is full of dysfunctional families. If you ever worry that your family is too dysfunctional, then you should read about the crazy shenanigans of the people written about in the Old Testament of the Bible.
This week's story comes from Genesis 37. It is the story of Joseph (with the colorful coat). He was the favorite son because his father loved his mother more than the other wives. He had ten older brothers, and they were very jealous of him. Joseph did some not too cool things to his brothers. One of the mistakes Joseph made was telling them that he had a dream in which they all bowed down before him. Not too humble, right?
These dreams disturb the older brothers, so they throw Joseph into a pit and plan on killing him. One of the brothers talks the rest into selling Joseph to a caravan that was going through town, and so they sold Joseph into slavery. Joseph ended up in Egypt in prison. Through God's working, Joseph ended up telling Pharaoh the meaning to some of his disturbing dreams and Pharaoh made Joseph his top advisor. This all worked out well because when there was a famine, Joseph ended up saving his brothers and father from starvation.
Later in the story, Joseph travels by that pit he was thrown into. That pit was the beginning of a very dark and terrible time in Joseph's life. He was taken from great privilege and had to serve as a slave for many, many years before God brought him out of slavery and into the palace. You would think that Joseph would look at that pit with hostility, but he does something radical. Joseph blesses the pit!
Do you have a pit in your life that needs to be blessed? Sometimes it is the pits that bring us closer to God and grows us the most. There are times when we can feel abandoned by God, and we sit in a pit wondering if He has a plan. Romans 8:28 says all things work for the good of those who are called by Him. That tells us that if we walk in the footsteps of Christ, we have hope for tomorrow and that the pits in our life can work for His glory.
Sometimes we are tempted to pray for an easy life for someone, or ourselves. I don't think that an easy life is quite as good as it sounds. It is the challenges in life that grow us the most and molds our character. I talked last night to a friend who's son lost part of his leg in an accident. She told me that she thinks he is a different person since the accident. He is more compassionate, more outgoing, and more easy going than before the accident. He has been able to take his pit and bless it. He is better off without the leg because he gained insight about himself and life that he would not have known before the accident.
I know there are some pretty big pits out there, but we have a God that is bigger than any pit. My prayer this week is not that life will be easy, but that those who are facing rough times will cling to the hope of Christ. He can truly make all things work for the good when we let Him.
Blessings,
Sandy
