As I sit here in my office at our house, looking out the window, cars are going by slower than normal.\u00a0 They appear to be using an abundance of caution.\u00a0 That is something that is unfortunately unusual where we live.\u00a0 But the change in driving habits is certainly warranted and even a wise decision.\u00a0 That is because for the last several hours it has been snowing here.\u00a0 I love watching the snow fall, see the trees, and the grass covered.\u00a0 There is just something special about snow.\u00a0 However, I must admit that my attitude towards the consequences of snow have changed somewhat over the years.\u00a0 At the risk of sounding like my parents as I was growing up, I like snow, I just don’t like the consequences of it.\u00a0 As a child and even a teenager I was downright giddy when I heard the forecast was calling for some snow.\u00a0 I hoped it would be enough to cancel school the next day (mainly because I didn’t want to do my homework, but rather go out and play in it).\u00a0 However, as a parent of three boys who all go to school, I must say the thought of another snow day is not always that exciting to me.\u00a0 It’s not that I don’t enjoy spending time with the boys, but I know inevitably they are going to be fighting and plucking each others nerves, which means my nerves are going to get plucked as I have to say once again “for the last time, stop fighting.”\u00a0 I love my boys, they are sweet kids with kind hearts, but something about being around each other for more than 5 minutes seems to bring out the worst in them, and many times in me as well.\u00a0 Isn’t it funny how our thinking about things changes over time?\u00a0 Take for instance something bad happens in life.\u00a0 At first it seems as though it is going to crush you.\u00a0 Yet after a while you don’t remember it as being that bad, and in some cases you actually see it as a good thing.\u00a0 I can think of one such instance in my life, the passing of my grandfather.\u00a0 Because I grew up next to my grandparents, I had a special relationship with them.\u00a0 When God called my grandfather home, I remember becoming very angry at God.\u00a0 It took a very long time to deal with his passing.\u00a0 But as I sit here, in a house across a softball field from the church I am blessed to pastor, I can’t help but think that his passing was good for both of us.\u00a0 He was released from the earthly pain that held him in bondage for many years.\u00a0 But it was also a time in which God finally got what He wanted and rightfully deserved, all of me.\u00a0 Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 are appropriate in this case, “We are<\/i> troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are<\/i> perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8-9).<\/p>\n
If there was anyone in the Bible who could agree with those verses it was Joseph in the Old Testament.\u00a0 He was his father’s favorite, he was smart, but he also experienced a lot of trouble in his life.\u00a0 He was sold into slavery by his brothers, accused of rape by a crazy woman, and thrown into prison.\u00a0 All of that before being elevated to number two in the nation of Egypt.\u00a0 When God arranged for Joseph to meet his brothers again, Joseph recognized them but they didn’t recognize him.\u00a0 It was so emotional for Joseph that he left the room in tears.\u00a0 After playing a pretty mean trick on his brothers, he would again get a face to face meeting.\u00a0 However, this time he also got to see his father for the first time in many years.\u00a0 After some time his father, Jacob, died.\u00a0 Neither Joseph nor his brothers had forgotten what they did to him, and they were scared after their father died.\u00a0 It’s interesting, in the beginning of the story Joseph’s brothers were happy and Joseph was sad, but by the end things had changed.\u00a0 Would Joseph now exact his revenge on his brothers?\u00a0 In a word, no.\u00a0 In fact we read a famous verse in Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but<\/i> God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is<\/i> this day, to save much people alive.”\u00a0 What changed?\u00a0 Did the facts of the story change?\u00a0 Did Joseph’s brothers say “sorry?”\u00a0 Again the answer is no to both questions.\u00a0 All that changed was how Joseph viewed the situation.<\/p>\n
That is the challenge that we all face.\u00a0 We cannot change the circumstances and situations we find ourselves in from day to day, but with God’s help we can see them in a different light.\u00a0 We go through bad days in order to help us appreciate the good ones.\u00a0 We experience loss in order to appreciate our many blessings.\u00a0 I understand that circumstances aren’t always the most pleasant to endure, but in the end if we trust God, we will be better off because of them.<\/p>\n
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As I sit here in my office at our house, looking out the window, cars are going by slower than normal.\u00a0 They appear to be using an abundance of caution.\u00a0 That is something that is unfortunately unusual where we live.\u00a0 … Read More