The Story of God: Faithful
As we’ve experienced the past few weeks, God had some grand plans. After Adam and Eve did not follow through on what God asked of them, he began working to restore his relationship with humanity. He called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be the forefathers of a new nation through which God would forge the relationship he desired to have with humanity.
However, as we will see this week, God isn’t always in a hurry. At least by our standards, it seems like he takes a while to get things done. Our story continues with the life of one of the sons of Jacob — Joseph. It is a longer story, but one with much for us to learn from. Find some time to read through Genesis 37-50, whether this is a story you are keenly familiar with or not. Things don’t always look good for Joseph, yet he trusts that God will be faithful to him. God comes through and uses the difficulties of Joesph’s life to continue his greater story.
There are many questions that need to be asked as we respond to the story of Joseph, but here are a few practical ones to get us going:
- How are you able to continue to trust in God even when things don’t seem to be working out the way you expect that they should?
- How has God corrected your path in times when you have been unfaithful?
- What is an example of a time that you can look back on and see how God was at work even when it didn’t seem like it at the time?
February 3rd, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Question #1: We talked about this in our home group on Wednesday and there were all kinds of thoughts and opinions. I believe that one way to keep going is to keep our eyes on the goal. If the Lord has called us to something, write it down and remember what He said. When times get rough and it looks like we may have heard wrong, and we begin to doubt, we can look back and remember what He said and then press on! I believe that Joseph did that. I think He had a pure heart and knew that he was hearing from the Lord. So that when times got rough, he remembered the Lord and pressed on. We can also remember the victories He has won for us in the past when times are tough. That way, we may draw strength from Him in how he came through last time… and press on.
Question #2: I know this doesn’t happen all the time, but a few major times when God needed to get my attention, He has floored me with sickness. Literally, on my back with no where to go and all kinds of time on my hands to sit at His feet and listen. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that all sickness is because God wants to get our attention… but I do believe that He uses sickness at times to whisper to us what He wants us to hear. It seems to work for me!!
Question #3: God at work when it didn’t seem like it?? I was in Guatemala doing my first year of teaching. At the end of that year, I knew I was to stay in Central America, but He was whispering to me to move on. I had to trust Him in this journey, because He led me blindly. I knew I was supposed to go to Costa Rica and study Spanish in a Language institute, and that He would make the rest clear when I got there. So, I went, on a call of obedience. I went to Language School and prayed each day that the rest would become clear. I sent a letter to my supporters explaining the journey and they all stayed with me. It was a time of certain uncertainty. There were times when I really wondered what I was doing and how could I leave all these people hanging who were supporting me??? But three months into my time in Costa Rica, it all became clear and I came across where God was calling me to a Children’s Center in Honduras where I spent the next 4.5 years. In the moment, it was all crystal clear. However, I never would have gotten there had I not blindly followed the call of obedience. That whole time strengthened my faith in a way I never could have mustered on my own.
February 6th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
I thought the movie clip from “Ray” was an excellent choice. If Ray’s mother had come to his help he would never learned to rely on his senses. We would never have discovered the cricket. I wonder what crickets we have discovered as God watched in anguish as He saw us struggle with important life situations? Most of us can look back on tough times and recognize important lessons or discoveries we gained from the experience. As Dean said, “God is looking at our life from a much greater perspective.”
Next time you are having a tough time, just say, “I’m looking for the cricket.”