SCRIPTURE
Acts 7:9-16 (NRSV)
Egypt's food rescues Israel
"The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him, and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all; so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors, and their bodies were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
DEVOTION
Dear Friends, I feel like today's scripture reading reminds us of the importance of persevering in hard times.
It would have been so easy for Joseph to give up, throw in the towel, drown in depression, and curse God and die.
After all, he lost everything and everyone who ever meant anything to him! His brothers betrayed him, he was separated from his beloved daddy, he was lied on and thrown in jail, he was ridiculed because of his belief in the prophesy of God and every time he looked up for a long season in his life things were going from bad to worse...
Sometimes it can seem that no one--including God--is on our side. It can feel like things couldn't possibly get any worse--and then they do.
It is at times like these that we MUST remind ourselves that God has a good plan for our lives, not to harm us, but to give us a future and a hope.
We must know--and believe--that God will never leave us, nor forsake us, no matter how terrible things seem.
We must hold on to the fact that God loves us and seeks our ultimate good.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, God has already proved how much we are loved, by sending Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. Since God did not withhold The Son, God will not withhold any other thing that we truly need!
Today, let's fall into the love of God! Let's cling to God's unchanging hand no matter how dark the night. Let's believe, that just as things ultimately worked together for good in Joseph's life, so too will we experience our happily ever after...
I'm asking all of us (myself included) to walk by faith and not by sight until this dark season passes. Jesus is The Light and darkness is not dark to Him.
We can trust God to lead us to the very place we need to go.
Let us pray: God, things look really bad right now. I don't feel like I'm going to make it. But, I'm not going to stand on my feelings; I'm going to stand on Your Word. Please help me to trust in you. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
INVITATION
If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta
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