Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Prison

9:02 AM by Christi Bowman

I have been feeling trapped, anxious, and sad, and at my lowest point God brought to mind Joseph. It was if God was saying "yes, you are in a prison of sorts, but I had plans for Joseph, and I have plans for you as well, but remember, Joseph had to wait...my plans included prison"

I used to wonder, as a kid, when reading the story of Joseph, "what held Joseph together all those years?"

Joseph KNEW God.

Joseph knew and believed in God in a way that few people do. He believed in God, and continued on in his faith when life took a turn for the worse, when things looked bad. He was convinced that there was more, that he was an alien here, longing for heavenly country (Hebrews 11).

Most of us expect blessings from God, if life isn't good we feel deserted and abandoned. We begin to question God and we wonder whether he deserves our faith and trust at all...we wonder if He is worth this.

I read somewhere that faith is trusting in God to act even when your circumstances look the most impossible. I have been reading in I and II Chronicles, and one of the themes throughout those books is that God KNOWS the hearts of man.

I have been here before. I have sensed a calling, a bigger plan. I have always known that there is more, but I have always tired of the waiting. I have given up and sought after carnal things...this life. He knew my heart. He knew I wasn't ready.

I am trusting now, and I will continue having faith although the well seems very very dry. I will keep my eyes set on things above because I have already exhausted every carnal opportunity and I know that I know that I know that there is NOTHING there.

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."(John 6:68)

So I wait...expectantly...with hope...and faith.

"In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through-all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline,
but don't be crushed by it either.
It's the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.

God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God."(Hebrews 12:4-11)

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