Monday October 10, 2011

Read: Genesis 40

 

Centuries ago a ship’s captain advertised for men to go on a dangerous mission that would be costly & perilous, life threatening and filled with impossibility. Returning alive was only a slight possibility. Thousands of men lined up for the adventure. More recently a pastor advertised a dangerous mission that would be costly and perilous. It could prove life threatening. It was a dangerous mission also filled with impossibility. No one lined up for the adventure.

 

When Joseph languished in Pharaoh’s prison, for a crime he never committed, he must have been wandering what he had signed up for. Years ago he dreamt that his brothers and even his own mother and father

would bow down before him. Yet here he was, dying and rotting away in a prison cell. At that point he had no idea what would transpire, but you and I know the ending of the story. We know the great things God brought about by Joseph’s suffering. It was no easy road. It was no tip toe through the tulips but God used him powerfully to bless His people and to bring salvation to many.

 

Joseph’s life serves as an example to us, reminding us that God’s sovereignty remains unabated and unchallenged by the situations we find ourselves in. He will use us to His own glory and to bring blessing and/or salvation to many. We may endure long, tough times. Young Abraham was promised a son but it took many years, until he was 99, that the child of the promise was given! We may wade through the mud. We may feel abandoned and alone, but God is sovereign and is working out all things according to His eternal plan. No plan of God’s can be thwarted. God will use you powerfully as you avail yourself to Him.

 

It breaks my heart to see very few believers lining up to sign up for God’s great adventures. Comfort and ease may have gotten the better of us. But you can change the tide. You can give yourself to God as a willing and ready volunteer. As you awaken each morning say to God in prayer, ‘Lord I am yours. I’ll go where ever you send me and do what ever you want me to do. Lead on master’. That, my friend, is a dangerous prayer. That my friend is not just a life changing prayer but a world changing prayer, because God will do great things through you as you give yourself to Him completely.

 

Read and remember Genesis 50:20 and think about how God might be able to use your suffering for the good of others.

 

Prayer Points:

> Pray for SL live and the Happy hours.

> Pray that more friends would be invited and that they would feel welcomed, loved and drawn more towards Jesus. This week Hannah Visser will be speaking from the book of Philippians, so please be praying for her as she prepares, and that God would use her to speak to us.