What Was God Thinking?
As Men of God, we need good answers to valid questions. Why are we going
through this present pandemic? What is God teaching us through this time of
shared tribulation and adversity? What gives us patience, endurance, and hope
through the crisis and the pestilence?
One type of prayer is supplication, a specific request for God’s help and
intervention when we realize we can’t make it on our own. An elder in an old
southern church opened his prayer with, “Lord I hate buttermilk, lard and dry
flour.” The pastor started to panic. He had never before heard such an opening
to a prayer. Then the elder continued, “However, when they’re mixed together
and baked in an oven, I love old time southern biscuits. Sometimes Lord, I
don’t understand the ingredients you’re putting into our lives. But when you’re
through baking us in the oven, I love the results. You make all things good.
Our ways are not your ways and our thoughts are not our thoughts.”
Romans 8 says that God works all things together for good to those who love God
and are called according to his purpose. God is a God of plan and purpose.
Unbelievers look at things as coincidences. Believers look at things as God
incidences. My times are in thy hands. They that wait upon the Lord will renew
their strength. They shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not
be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
God will teach us important life-lessons through times of trial. He works
behind the scenes to mold us and make us after his will. Pete recalls that many
years ago he was playing double-A baseball for the Detroit Tigers. On one
particularly bad day he had made three errors. Two were wild throws. The third
error was a slow swinging bunt that was hit toward third base. Pete put his
glove into position to catch this easy grounder. To this day, he doesn’t know
how the ball rolled underneath his glove. Pete had also stuck out three times
that game. Then in the bottom of the ninth he was on deck with the winning run
in scoring position. He prayed, “Lord, please have the manager call the pinch
hitter to hit for me.” When God didn’t answer his prayer, Pete stepped into the
batter’s box. He prayed, “Lord, please just don’t let me strike out again.”
After two strikes, the left handed pitcher threw a curve that broke inside.
Pete swung and the ball made contact the near where he was holding the bat. The
bat vibrated violently as the ball blooped over the first baseman’s head just
out of his reach. There was so much spin on the ball that it bounced wildly
when it hit the ground. While the first baseman was trying to locate the ball,
the runner scored from second base. After three fielding errors and three
strikeouts, Pete was the hero of the game. A cartoon in the local paper showed
a baseball player with a revolver. The caption read, “Six misfires and then,
Bang!” God works in mysterious ways to show us that all things work together
for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
The story of Joseph in the book of Genesis chapters 39-50 is a story of God’s
deliverance and the purpose for his providence. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite of
his 12 sons. God was preparing Joseph’s sons to become the patriarchs of the
twelve tribes of the hose of Israel. Even though Joseph was the youngest son,
His father had given him a special “coat of many colors” as a sign that he was
especially loved. Joseph had described a dream to his brothers. In his dream
there were sheaves of wheat, one for each brother. Their sheaves bowed down to
his sheaf. They thought, why should we bow down to our little brother? His
brothers were jealous and plotted to get rid of him. While they were watching
their father’s flocks, Jacob sent Joseph to find them and report back on how
they were doing. As Joseph approached they said among themselves, “Here comes
the dreamer. Let’s kill him and tell our father that he was killed by wild
animals.” When a trading caravan came by, they decided to sell Joseph to the
traders. They dipped his coat of many colors in the blood of a kid goat. When
they returned to their father they said, we found his coat drenched with blood
but we didn’t find Joseph. He must have been eaten by a wild animal. Jacob’s
heart was broken because Joseph was his beloved wife Rachel’s only son.
Joseph was sold in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s high ranking security officer.
Potiphar trusted Joseph in all his dealings since everything that Joseph did
prospered. Potiphar made Joseph manager and steward over all of his
responsibilities and he was the administrator over everything Potiphar owned.
Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph but Joseph said, “how can I betray my
master when he’s entrusted everything to me except for you.” She grabbed his
coat as he fled from her. Then she accused him of attempted rape and had him
thrown into prison.
The prison keeper realized that Joseph had an excellent spirit so he placed him
in charge of the other prisoners. After several years two prisoners who had
worked for the Pharaoh had disturbing dreams.. One was the pharaoh’s butler and
the other was his baker. Joseph said that he could interpret their dreams by
God’s revelation. The butler dreamed of a vine with three branches. On each
vine was a cluster of grapes that he picked and squeezed into the pharaoh’s
cup. Joseph told the butler that the three branches represented three days. In
three days, he would be restored to his old position in Pharaoh’s palace and
pour wine into Pharaoh’s cup. Joseph said to the butler, speak favorably of me
when you are restored to your position. However, the butler forgot to tell
Pharaoh that Joseph had interpreted his dream.
Two years later Pharaoh had two dreams that troubled him. In one dream, there
were seven well nourished plump cows that came out of the river. Then seven
starving emaciated cows came out of the river and devoured the seven plump
cows. In his other dream there were seven full ripe ears of corn. Then came up
seven scrawny ears of corn that were shriveled and “blasted by the east wind.”
The seven scrawny ears consumed the seven full ears of corn. The pharaoh told
this dream to his wise men but no one could interpret it. Finally the butler
told pharaoh that there was a Hebrew, a servant of the prison guard who
interpreted his dream when he was in prison and the interpretation came true.
Pharaoh summoned Joseph. When Pharaoh told is dreams to Joseph, he said to the
king, I will tell you the meaning of the dream but only the true God can reveal
its true meaning. He said, the meaning of the two dreams is the same. The seven
fat cows and the seven full ears of corn mean that there will be seven years of
plenty in Egypt. The seven thin cows and the seven withered ears of corn
represent the next seven years of famine. The seven thin cows eating the seven
fat cows and the seven scrawny ears consuming the seven full ears of corn mean
that you should store up food from the seven years of plenty to hold during the
seven years of famine.
Joseph said, you should store up one fifth of the harvest from the seven years
of plenty. You should find a wise man to oversee the operation to build
storehouses and appoint administrators to gather in the grain. Pharaoh said to
his advisors, there is no one in Egypt wiser than Joseph. The Pharaoh appointed
Joseph to be his prime minister. Except for Pharaoh himself there was no one in
Egypt with more power and authority than Joseph.
Joseph oversaw the building of vast storehouses. For seven years a fifth of the
harvest was collected and so much grain was stored that they could not count it
all. After seven years the famine struck the known world around Egypt.
In the land of Goshen, Jacob said to his eleven sons, we’re running out of food
but there is grain in Egypt. Go there and buy us some food so that we don’t
starve. The brothers left for Egypt but their youngest brother Benjamin stayed
home with their father.
Joseph administered the selling of grain and he recognized his brothers when
they came to Egypt because of the famine. He questioned them about their father
the rest of their family. They told him about Jacob, their father Israel and
their little brother Benjamin who stayed at home. Joseph realized that Benjamin
was his full brother whose mother was Rachel. They told them that they had
another half brother who “was no more.” Joseph went into another room and wept
when they told him about his father and his brother.
The brothers thought that Joseph would deal harshly with them and that this
would be God’s punishment for selling Joseph into slavery and telling their
father that he was dead. However, Joseph forgave them and reminded them that
the moral of the story is that what men meant for evil God meant for good. All things
work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his
purpose. God has a plan and a purpose for our lives to will and to do of His
good pleasure.
Joseph accepted what God was doing in his life. Acceptance is to give favor and
approval of what God is working in us and through us. We accept God’s will
during the times of trial. The question we must ask ourselves is, Does God
really love us? Does he really have our best interest in mind? Is he really a
God of plan and purpose?
A loving father disciplines those he loves. He will make disciples through his
discipline training. Correction means to restore to an upright position.
Through the trial we will learn that tribulation worketh patience and patience
experience, and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
When we were born again into God’s kingdom we were born into a new kind of
life. The norms and rules of God’s kingdom are different from the norms of this
present world.
Through the trial we will learn what Cory tin Boom said, We’ll never know that
Jesus is all we need until he is all we have. He is the first and last, the
beginning and the end. He is the architect and purpose for my life. He was dead
and brought life. No army can defeat him. He is goodness, kindness and
gentleness. His way is right. His word is eternal. He is my joy, my comfort,
and my all in all.
He is the ruler of rulers and the leader of leaders. He is the Sovreign one.
The lord of all.
He’s given all opportunities to praise him despite the trials. According to 1
Thessalonians 5:23-24, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will
do it.”
The question is, “Do you know him?”
As we endure the pestilence of this hour and as we prepare to celebrate the
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the words from S.M. Lockridge’s sermon
are appropriate. Here is the link of the video of this famous message along
with the text of the sermon’s conclusion.
https://www.shadowmountain.org/Content/HtmlImages/Public/Documents/General/EBI/Thats%20My%20King%20-%20Do%20You%20Know%20Him.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qrS8-PIjLI&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qrS8-PIjLI&feature=related
