“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good….” –Gen. 50:20

The world, the flesh, and the devil are all working against us. We long for relief and we battle against bitterness. In the heat of battle we tend to forget that God is in control and has promised to use the bad for good. The story of Joseph serves to remind us of this fact. Jack Graham recently commented on this old story that you’ve probably heard before—

A man was climbing a mountain with his son one day and his son was having a very hard time. He was smaller than his dad, so his little legs were struggling to take the necessary steps. So he told his dad, “Dad, it’s so hard because of all of these rocks. They’re big, sharp, and they hurt.”

The dad looked down at the boy and said, “Son, those sharp rocks are what we’re climbing on. Without the rocks, we’d fall.”

In life, we’re going to encounter bumps and jagged rocks. Many of them hurt us, scar us, and leave us sore and bruised. But as believers, we have to see those rocks not in terms of the damage they cause, but as stepping stones to a higher plane of living. Yes, the enemy may intend them to cause us harm, but God will use them for our good.

Don’t be discouraged by the jagged rocks you’re treading on today. Put them below your feet and use them to propel you to a higher plane of living. Keep your eyes focused on the prize and you’ll rise above life’s negative circumstances.

“Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.”   (Micah 7:8).

 

This may express the feelings of a man or woman downtrodden and oppressed. Our enemy may put out our light for a season. There is sure hope for us in the LORD; and if we are trusting in Him and holding fast our integrity, our season of downcasting and darkness will soon be over. The insults of the foe are only for a moment. The LORD will soon turn their laughter into lamentation and our sighing into singing. What if the great enemy of souls should for a while triumph over us, as he has triumphed over better men than we are; yet let us take heart, for we shall overcome him before long. We shall rise from our fall, for our God has not fallen, and He will lift us up. We shall not abide in darkness, although for the moment we sit in it; for our LORD is the fountain of light, and He will soon bring us a joyful day. Let us not despair or even doubt. One turn of the wheel, and the lowest will be at the top. Woe unto those who laugh now, for they shall mourn and weep when their boasting is turned into everlasting contempt. But blessed are all holy mourners, for they shall be divinely comforted. (Faith’s Checkbook)

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” – Romans 8:17

How do you enlist suffering to make it your servant?

First, you receive it as a gift from God. Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

Second, rely on God’s grace, because with the gift comes His grace. 2 Corinthians 9:8 promises, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” God is going to be near you in a special way.

Finally, reflect on the glory of God. There is no greater Christian who ever lived than the Apostle Paul. His greatest motive in all he endured was the glory of God. His pain became a platform from which he declared the glory of God.

Receive it as a gift. Rely upon God’s grace. Reflect upon God’s glory. Choose {Resolve) to glorify Him through it.–Adrian Rogers

“Though I be nothing.” 2 Corinthians 12:11

This was Paul’s estimate of himself: less than the least of all saints, and the chief of sinners. The more we know of ourselves and of Jesus, the more shall we be humbled in the dust before God; and the lower we lie before God, the happier and holier we shall be. Man will, MUST be something; this is his pride and his misery: the Christian is willing to be nothing, that Christ may be all in all. If we daily felt that we are nothing, how many mortifications we should be spared; what admiring views of the grace of God would fill and sanctify our souls. Apart from Christ we are less than nothing, but in Christ we are something. We are empty, but He fills us; naked, but He clothes us; helpless, but He strengthens us; lost, but He finds us; ruined, but He saves us; poor but He supplies us. All we are, is by Christ; all we have, is from Christ; all we shall be, is through Christ. Believer, thou art nothing: therefore beware of thinking too highly of thyself, or fancying that you deserve more than you receive, either from God or men. Humble souls are soon satisfied.James Smith)

O could I lose myself in Thee,
Thy depth of mercy prove,
Thou vast unfathomable sea
Of unexhausted love!
I loathe myself when God I see,
Content if Christ exalted be.

“With goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.”– Eph  6:7.

The common drudgery of daily life can be a Divine Calling. We often speak of a young man as “being called to the Ministry”; but it is as fitting to speak of a carpenter being called to the bench, the blacksmith to the forge, and the shoemaker to his last. “Brethren,” said the Apostle, “let every man wherein he is called, therein abide with God.”

Remember that your life has been appointed by God’s wise providence. God as much sent Joseph to the drudgery and discipline of the prison as to the glory and responsibility of the palace. Nothing happens to us which is not included in His plan for us; and the incidents which seem most tiresome are often contrived to give us opportunities to become nobler, stronger characters.

We are called to be faithful in performing our assigned duties. Not brilliance, not success, not notoriety which attracts the world’s notice, but the regular, quiet, and careful performance of trivial and common duties; faithfulness in that which is least is as great an attainment in God’s sight as in the greatest.

In every piece of honest work, however irksome, laborious, and commonplace, we are fellow-workers with God. We must help God to give men their daily bread. It is for Him to cause the growth of the corn, but man must reap and thresh, grind out the flour, make and distribute the bread. The tailor is God’s fellow-workman, helping Him to clothe the bodies which He has made to need garments of various textures. The builder co-operates with God in housing His children. The merchant helps to bring the products of the East to refresh and enrich the toiling masses of the West. God uses man in a thousand ways to serve the children of men.

Take up your work, then, you who seem to be the nobodies, the drudges, the maid-of-all-work, the clerk, or shop assistant. Do it with a brave heart, looking up to Him who for many “years toiled at the carpenter’s bench. Amid the many scenes and actions of life, set the Lord always before your face. Do all as in His presence, and to win His smile; and be sure to cultivate a spirit of love to God and man. Look out for opportunities of cheering your fellow-workers. Do not murmur or grumble, but let your heart rise from your toil to God your Maker, Saviour, and Friend. So the lowliest service will glisten, as grass-blades do when sun and dewdrops garnish them.

Be not far from me, O Lord, this day; and through all its hours may I be found doing those things which are well-pleasing in Thy sight. AMEN. –F B Meyer