Read: Psalm 22
Think: Joseph hung in there with God even during the biggest difficulties life can bring. He may have questioned the Lord’s plan and purposes, but he never turned from the Lord or gave up on his relationship with Him. Put in a similar circumstance I know the temptation often is to blame God, to question His care for us or His concern over the state we find ourselves in… And maybe left feeling bitter with a hole the size of Texas in our hearts.
As we learned from Pastor Ben’s message about Joseph, when things go wrong in life the first biblical step toward help, healing and understanding is to talk to God. Discuss what’s happening with God. If you pray, turning your heart to Him rather than from Him, you’ll discover that God either changes your heart or gives you some glimpse of supernatural reassurance about who He is and that He truly He is near… and aware… And at work because He’s deeply in love with you!!!
All our difficulties would go smoother if we would just pray more about them and trust God even when we don’t understand. As Joseph did throughout his ordeals.
David did the same throughout the Psalms, used prayer to ventilate vertically yet reaffirm His faith in the One who is worthy of our trust. Tell God your frustrations. Cry out to him. He’s never surprised or upset by your anger, hurt, insecurity, or any other emotions. So tell him exactly how you feel. From Sunday’s message we read Joseph’s conclusion:
“It is because God has made me forget all my trouble…” Gen. 41:51 (NIV)
“It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” Gen. 41:52 (NIV)
Do: In the middle of tough situations when you’re tempted to let your heart get hard toward God for allowing the difficulty, choose instead to TRUST the One who is ultimately trustworthy. Go to Him and invite Him first to be part of helping, healing, restoring whatever it is that’s causing you pain.
Pray: Father, I want to have my first response – even in the darkest and most difficult times – to be to turn to You. Lord, I know You are working in my life through the good things and the hard things that I go through. I trust You and ask You to help me to see what You are up to in the middle of all that happens in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.