If you have social media, I have no doubt you posted a “first day of school” picture, possibly stating what grades your children are in or what teaching year you are starting. And if you looked at mine this past year, you would have read I am starting my 25th year teaching in public schools and although I can retire this year why would I when I love what I do. But then…two weeks later…I am calling my state’s retirement pension group requesting an audit on my account if I choose to retire this year (which at this point I feel about 90% sure this is where the Lord is leading me). You may ask, “what happened?” Well, that’s not for this devotional and one left for my close friends and family. Now, don’t get me wrong; I still love what I do. However, my prayers and struggles have been on how to continue to do what God has called me to do at this moment while struggling to leave the house each morning. I am reading through Tim Keller’s book “Every Good Endeavor” to help me walk through this process of where the Lord is leading me, but that is for another post. This post stems from this morning’s Sunday School lesson on Joseph’s imprisonment in Genesis. I would encourage you to read Genesis 39 and reflect.
Can you imagine being falsely accused of something and punished for it like Joseph? Not just once but multiple times? If you are like me, we would probably be emotionally devastated. I can’t even fathom being imprisoned for a crime I did not commit. For Joseph, this was not the first trial he experienced. He was literally sold into slavery by his brothers!!! And now, he was being falsely accused of have improper relations with Potiphar’s wife. Through all these trials, Scripture clearly tells us the LORD was with him! In Gen. 39: 1-5, it is mentioned FIVE times! Even after Joseph was imprisoned, Gen. 39:21 states, “But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor…” And then there is verse 23 that states “the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.” Not to sway away from this story but how many trials have we experienced (and will experience) and have forgotten how the Lord is with us through them all?
Now back to the story… through all of Joseph’s trials, his faithfulness was ever growing (verse 9 “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”). Though these “unfair” events happened to him, God was using them all to develop Joseph into the faithful leader he will become (“unfair” in quotation marks because what we see as “why me, God” is actually all in accordance with His Sovereign plan in our lives).
So, how can we take Joseph’s life and apply to our own? First, we don’t know why trials happen just as Joseph couldn’t see at the time God’s plan for his life. However, God always has a plan which will always be for His glory. ALL things work towards good. Second, when things happen to us unjustly, we tend to ask “why me?” Well, why not you? Third, in all circumstances (good and bad), we need to remember God is SOVEREIGN over everything and can ONLY do good. Yes, I have already said that once but we always need to hear it multiple times. Last, God loves us more than we can ever comprehend.
God’s Word never promises us comfort; we are promised PEACE. Do we allow God’s peace to reign in our hearts during the BAD times, even when we can’t see the beauty in where he is leading us? Don’t mistake finding peace and contentment through all circumstances as being lazy with our prayers to God. God may be Sovereign over all things but that doesn’t mean we don’t commune with God through our prayers (I apologize for that double negative). Psalm 18:6 says, “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” So don’t mistake finding peace with laziness. And don’t think that Joseph didn’t feel the fear and emotions of betrayal and false accusations. Joseph’s faithfulness even during the lowest times is what we should cling to.
Where do you (or I) go from here? For me, it is meeting each day with the peace to know that not one second of my day is outside of God’s plan for my life. Although I may not see the purpose of what is happening and why, I have to remember that God’s plan can only be good and right! What can I do to bring glory to God? What can I do to be like Joseph, who through the highs and lows remained faithful? I am still on this journey to see where God will lead me. But for now, the details of each day is not foreign to God. Through the highs and lows, may I remain faithful and glorify God through my words and actions.
John Piper – How to Glorify God in my Everyday Life?
