Well kids, I’ve been doing this blog thing since 2001 and here it is … eleven years later … and I am sitting here at a local Starbucks on a freezing cold night, looking out at the passing traffic on Main Street typing this entry on an iPad. Who would have thought that technology would have changed so much in the past years that I can carry this slim little tablet that is all touch screen operated, complete with keyboard, internet, email and everything else you can imagine. I gotta say, it is pretty incredible. t took me long enough to finally get around to getting one, but now that I have one, it works really well for this kind of thing. Now, if only I had something to say!
I have been reading through the book of Genesis lately. My friend Chad and I are just starting at book one and headed for book sixty-six. The story of life’s beginnings and of humanity in the early years is really remarkable. God has done some amazing things in this book. From the garden and all its amazing splendor, to Noah’s big boat, to the faith of Abraham and the savvy of Joseph preparing for famine, we find that the hand of the Lord has always been active in the lives of those who He has marked for destiny….for something greater. It’s brilliant and beautiful to read of the struggles and the hardships these men and women of faith had and how the Lord used their weakness for His glory.
Joseph said it best when he spoke to his brothers as they stood before him, trembling in fear after selling him into slavery out of jealousy and cruelty years before. Now here he was, second in command over the entire country of Egypt and he looked at them, cowering, and said, “Listen. I am not angry. I had a few years to think about it and now I realize that what you meant for evil, God intended for something good. If I had never come here, we would all have died n the famine, as would have most of the country. You see, the Lord worked it out and had to teach us all a few things along the way.” Essentially, he was saying that those experiences in our lives either will shape us or break us. It just depends on how we respond. And the reality is that the Lord has an active hand in the destiny of our lives. I am grateful for this because there are moments that I look heavenward and say, “God this makes no sense at all, and I honestly am glad you can see the big blueprint up there, because what I see right here is making no sense at all.”
Gold refined by fire… The moments that shape us to walk out our destiny.
Yes, so grateful for His active hand. One that has been outstretched, with lovingkindness, through 66 books. Joseph’s brothers were right to think it felt like a crazy ride. All the mistakes and confusion … And He still holds His hand out to me.