Hold my hand.
At my Christian Fellowship in work we were looking [briefly] at the life of Joseph. As we did so something really stood out to me.
When Joseph finally met his brothers in Egypt, fulfilling a dream he had many years ago [which for the first ten years or so looked as though it was responsible for screwing up his life], he said something amazing: “But don't feel badly, don't blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it.” (Gen 45:5 MSG)
Now I used to think this was an amazing statement because it demonstrated a huge degree of forgiveness. However, this is only partially true. More than this it demonstrates an outstanding trust in God even when there was no clear evidence that God was looking out for him.
Joseph’s life was a roller-coaster ride of successes and failures; one step forward two steps back. Joseph would make sound decisions and people would stab him in the back. His life would not be what a God protected life should look like, and yet this is how Joseph views it. What is more shocking to us is that God does not seem to actively involve himself in Joseph’s life (even when things get really bad… and I mean really bad). God gives this young lad a dream and then seems to stand back giving him the space to live, learn and trust. The next time God breezes into Joseph’s life is many many years later when he is in prison and he receives a dream about his fellow cell mates. Even then it is years before Joseph hears from God again. [Is it just me or does this make you feel uncomfortable because it sounds like our lives.]
I have always thought how scary a ‘life of faith’ would be – relying on God to provide enough cash each day to cover the bills. But in reality living life is no less scary. We want God to hold our hand but, like the loving parent He is, God wants us to walk on our own two feet. He is the conflict: We want God to direct our every decision, giving us success at every turn, but God wants us to honour Him in our every decision; to learn from failures, to rejoice in successes and trust Him at all times.
I know that I want God to hold me by the hand, guiding my every step. This is good but God wants the best for me, He wants me to walk, to move my own feet, to decide on where to place them – to grow and develop.
Joseph is not the only example of this, there is [amazingly] the Apostle Paul and even Esther. Famously Esther was told the following by her uncle: “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Est 4:14 NIV) This is true for us… well perhaps not the royal position thing (unless Prince William or Harry are reading this). At no time in the book of Esther does God directly intervene [it is unique in this respect] and as you begin to realise this you begin to notice how much of a maturing tale it is.
This does not mean that God simply leaves us to it, He bestows us with wisdom and an ability to make [sound] decisions. Esther is a book about learning to take responsibility for decisions in the light of trusting and honouring God, ‘stepping up to the plate’ confident that He is with you.
Life does not have to be neat or perfect to be godly. A godly life is one in which we take responsibility for our decisions and seek to honour and serve God above all else. So don’t fret when things go belly up, this does not mean that you have departed from God, or that He has abandoned you. It is simply an opportunity for you to learn and grow, and in doing so making your Heavenly Father more proud. There will of course be times when God joyfully takes you by the hand, but if this happens all the time you would only be a child playing in the park rather than a son maturing into someone of responsibility.
When Joseph finally met his brothers in Egypt, fulfilling a dream he had many years ago [which for the first ten years or so looked as though it was responsible for screwing up his life], he said something amazing: “But don't feel badly, don't blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it.” (Gen 45:5 MSG)Now I used to think this was an amazing statement because it demonstrated a huge degree of forgiveness. However, this is only partially true. More than this it demonstrates an outstanding trust in God even when there was no clear evidence that God was looking out for him.
Joseph’s life was a roller-coaster ride of successes and failures; one step forward two steps back. Joseph would make sound decisions and people would stab him in the back. His life would not be what a God protected life should look like, and yet this is how Joseph views it. What is more shocking to us is that God does not seem to actively involve himself in Joseph’s life (even when things get really bad… and I mean really bad). God gives this young lad a dream and then seems to stand back giving him the space to live, learn and trust. The next time God breezes into Joseph’s life is many many years later when he is in prison and he receives a dream about his fellow cell mates. Even then it is years before Joseph hears from God again. [Is it just me or does this make you feel uncomfortable because it sounds like our lives.]
I have always thought how scary a ‘life of faith’ would be – relying on God to provide enough cash each day to cover the bills. But in reality living life is no less scary. We want God to hold our hand but, like the loving parent He is, God wants us to walk on our own two feet. He is the conflict: We want God to direct our every decision, giving us success at every turn, but God wants us to honour Him in our every decision; to learn from failures, to rejoice in successes and trust Him at all times.
I know that I want God to hold me by the hand, guiding my every step. This is good but God wants the best for me, He wants me to walk, to move my own feet, to decide on where to place them – to grow and develop.
Joseph is not the only example of this, there is [amazingly] the Apostle Paul and even Esther. Famously Esther was told the following by her uncle: “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Est 4:14 NIV) This is true for us… well perhaps not the royal position thing (unless Prince William or Harry are reading this). At no time in the book of Esther does God directly intervene [it is unique in this respect] and as you begin to realise this you begin to notice how much of a maturing tale it is.This does not mean that God simply leaves us to it, He bestows us with wisdom and an ability to make [sound] decisions. Esther is a book about learning to take responsibility for decisions in the light of trusting and honouring God, ‘stepping up to the plate’ confident that He is with you.
Life does not have to be neat or perfect to be godly. A godly life is one in which we take responsibility for our decisions and seek to honour and serve God above all else. So don’t fret when things go belly up, this does not mean that you have departed from God, or that He has abandoned you. It is simply an opportunity for you to learn and grow, and in doing so making your Heavenly Father more proud. There will of course be times when God joyfully takes you by the hand, but if this happens all the time you would only be a child playing in the park rather than a son maturing into someone of responsibility.
- Andrew Carey
posted by Andrew at 10:23 am
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