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THE NERVE OF SOME PEOPLE - By Max Lucado
Not far from my house there’s a café that serves hamburgers that I shouldn’t eat as often as I’d like. But I indulged a few summers ago. There I met one of their teenage employees, a waitress. She was fresh out of high school, hoping to get into college next month. Her life, as it turns out, hasn’t been easy. When she was six years old, her parents divorced. When she was fifteen, they remarried, only to divorce again. Her parents told her to choose: live with Mom or live with Dad. She got misty-eyed as she described their announcement.
I didn’t have a chance to tell her this at the time, but if I see her again, do you know what I’d like to say to her? “You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick. But God will use this mess for good. In the meantime don’t be foolish or naive. But don’t despair either. With God’s help you will get through this.”
Audacious of me, right?
Would I have the nerve to look into your eyes and say as much to you? You, who are torn between families? You, who are still grieving the loss of a your precious friend, your loved family member? You, who are wondering if in this season of miracles yours may have been lost?
I would. And I do.
Where do I get the nerve to speak such a promise into tragedy? In a pit, actually. A deep, dark pit. So steep, the boy could not climb out.
“So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat a meal” (Gen. 37:23–25).
But Joseph went from a pit to a prison to a palace. Within twenty years, the roles had completely reversed—Joseph was the strong one, and his brothers needed his help.
So how did he flourish in the midst of tragedy? We don’t have to speculate. In his explanation to his brothers we find his inspiration. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (50:20 NASB).
In God’s hands intended evil becomes eventual good.
Joseph tied himself to the pillar of this promise and held on for dear life. Nothing in his story glosses over the presence of evil. Quite the contrary. Bloodstains, tearstains are everywhere. Joseph’s heart was rubbed raw against the rocks of disloyalty and miscarried justice. Yet time and time again God redeemed the pain. And the very acts intended to destroy God’s servant turned out to strengthen him. (We need to remind each other that we need to "tie ourselves to the pillar of God's promise and hold on for dear life" when we are down.)
Is it possible that God is using the trials of this season to strengthen you?
I think so
Not far from my house there’s a café that serves hamburgers that I shouldn’t eat as often as I’d like. But I indulged a few summers ago. There I met one of their teenage employees, a waitress. She was fresh out of high school, hoping to get into college next month. Her life, as it turns out, hasn’t been easy. When she was six years old, her parents divorced. When she was fifteen, they remarried, only to divorce again. Her parents told her to choose: live with Mom or live with Dad. She got misty-eyed as she described their announcement.
I didn’t have a chance to tell her this at the time, but if I see her again, do you know what I’d like to say to her? “You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick. But God will use this mess for good. In the meantime don’t be foolish or naive. But don’t despair either. With God’s help you will get through this.”
Audacious of me, right?
Would I have the nerve to look into your eyes and say as much to you? You, who are torn between families? You, who are still grieving the loss of a your precious friend, your loved family member? You, who are wondering if in this season of miracles yours may have been lost?
I would. And I do.
Where do I get the nerve to speak such a promise into tragedy? In a pit, actually. A deep, dark pit. So steep, the boy could not climb out.
“So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat a meal” (Gen. 37:23–25).
But Joseph went from a pit to a prison to a palace. Within twenty years, the roles had completely reversed—Joseph was the strong one, and his brothers needed his help.
So how did he flourish in the midst of tragedy? We don’t have to speculate. In his explanation to his brothers we find his inspiration. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (50:20 NASB).
In God’s hands intended evil becomes eventual good.
Joseph tied himself to the pillar of this promise and held on for dear life. Nothing in his story glosses over the presence of evil. Quite the contrary. Bloodstains, tearstains are everywhere. Joseph’s heart was rubbed raw against the rocks of disloyalty and miscarried justice. Yet time and time again God redeemed the pain. And the very acts intended to destroy God’s servant turned out to strengthen him. (We need to remind each other that we need to "tie ourselves to the pillar of God's promise and hold on for dear life" when we are down.)
Is it possible that God is using the trials of this season to strengthen you?
I think so