Chains of Promise

I think one of the biggest things I've learned over the last couple years is that we expect blessing in minutes, but God gives blessing in generations. That doesn't mean He doesn't care for us and love us as His children right now, but He doesn't need to rush all of His plans into one person's lifespan, because He has the lifetime of the earth to bring His plan to completion.

So often we look at an event in our lives, or even an international or national event, and we convince ourselves because of what happened today, this week, or even this year, that God has abandoned us, or God doesn't want to bless us, or maybe even that God is mad at us. Sometimes God's greatest victories in our lives come on the back side of these moments. Usually, in my experience, God's greatest blessings come after spending some time in the darkest valleys, as Psalm 23 refers to it.

If you went to jail for a crime you didn't commit, how long would it take before you decided maybe God had turned His back on you?

If you were left for dead in a well, then sold into slavery, how long would it take for you to question whether God heard your voice?

In Genesis 37, Joseph is thrown into a well by his brothers because they were angry that their father loved him more than them. Their intent was for him to die without the blood being directly on their hands, but God had other plans. As Joseph's brothers were still nearby, a caravan ends up coming along and they end up selling him as a slave to the Midianites. He didn't die in the well! But he was now a slave...

As I try to put myself in Joseph's shoes, I know I'd be burning with anger at my brothers for doing this to me. I probably had an idea what I thought God's plans were for my life, and now I'm struggling to figure out how they're ever going to happen. I'm starting to question why God would take me away from my family. Why would God abandon me and let me fall into slavery?

Joseph ends up getting sold to Potiphar, the king's official in charge of the palace guard. Things are starting to look up. Potiphar puts Joseph in charge of his house and all his possessions. Joseph is probably starting to feel pretty good about everything. Things didn't immediately seem like they were going to work out, but certainly God is making the best out of an unfortunate situation and preparing Joseph for something great. He's probably looking for a wife and starting to plan out his life again.

Well, most likely around the same time Joseph started crushing on one of the women in the palace and getting his future plans in order, Potiphar's wife tries to seduce him and when he refuses, she frames him and tells Potiphar that he tried to force himself on her. Once again... life falls apart. Potiphar throws Joseph into jail for two years!

Immediately, I'd be frustrated. A week in, I'd think for sure God was going to do something crazy to get me out of there. A couple months in I'd start to ask God where He had gone. Two years in... I'd feel completely abandoned. All the plans I thought God had for my life aren't ever going to happen. I might as well figure out what my plan is to make the best out of the time that I have, because there's no way God has a plan for my life.

How many of us fall into this?! How quick are we to decide that God isn't listening or that He doesn't care? For two years, Joseph sat in jail, as God prepared for his grand entrance back into Pharaoh's kingdom.

Pharaoh ends up having a dream that no one in his kingdom could interpret, until one man remembers that Joseph had interpreted a dream for him correctly while he was in jail. Two years after being sent to jail, Pharaoh sends for Joseph to come and interpret his dream. Pharaoh trusts his interpretation and trusts that he is a man of God. He makes the decision to entrust his entire kingdom to Joseph, and puts him in charge of all the people to make preparations for the coming famine.

We don't know for sure that Joseph didn't go through any more valleys, but we can see how faithful God was to His servant, even when it might have seemed like all hope was lost. Fortunately, Joseph didn't give up on God, but was available to hear from Him when the opportunity came to interpret Pharaoh's dream.

A lot of times when we talk about being blessed, we expect God to give us finances and good health, but in Joseph's case, the beginning of his blessing was going through the valley of getting thrown into jail for two years. God will teach us things in the valley that we need to bring with us on our way out. If we continue to trust the Lord when all seems lost, He's going to continue to lead us into the life He has planned for His children.

The experiences we have are on purpose - God is giving them to us to prepare us for our future. Don't give up in the valley, because there's a mountain in the distance God is preparing you to climb.

Adventure in Christ

I've been watching my friends and family use social media platforms lately in an effort to fight for a cause - unfortunately often fighting against their brothers and sisters. Everyone seems to be fighting for peace... what a strange idea. 

So often I've wanted to say something, but the only answer I have is love. President Trump did this thing. Correct response = love. Your friend voted for Hillary. Correct response = love. Your friend voted for Trump. Correct response = love. Another innocent life was lost. Correct response = love. Something didn't go your way. Correct response = love.

I've attempted to enter conversations peaceably before and turned wicked. I've also wickedly entered conversations before and forgot peace as my fingers hit the keyboard. I may have maintained the peace one time, but probably because my wife was watching me type over my shoulder and gently asked me if I should really be writing something. 

So, instead of trying to enter these conversations, I've decided to start my own. This conversation is going to be about Love, and I'm going to try to write about it every day as I take this year to read through the Bible. Maybe you don't believe in Jesus like I do, but I won't be mad about it. Maybe you'll disagree with the way I think God is speaking to me about something, but I'm not going to tell you how God should speak to you. I don't think there is any better way to share love, then to talk about the Man who loved us enough to die for us. 

Before I understood was blogging was, but after the revolution of Facebook, I had put together a small group of guys in a Facebook group to share with each other summaries of our Biblical readings as we read through the Bible together. It was beneficial for a few reasons - 

1. It helped us hold each other accountable to reading.
2. It helped us to learn from each other and pull wisdom from the way God spoke to us differently through the Word. 
3. It forced us to read the Bible deeper through a different lens.

I'm not sure yet how often I'll share links on Facebook, so feel free to follow the blog if you want a reminder every time I update. 

PS. When I opened my computer I thought I was going to be writing about how tough it's been to relocate and move across the country. I guess God is calling for more!