Weekend Words

From A Year's Journey with God...

The 'make or break' Journeys

"His brethren pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver." - Genesis 37:28

What a terrible start to one of the saddest journeys in the Bible.  What must Joseph have felt as he stumbled towards Egypt, hands bound, neck clamped in an iron collar, dragged like a dog into slavery?  Each faltering step took him further from his father who loved him, his comfortable home and the person he had always been, and nearer to a new and humiliating identity among strangers.

Disaster can strike any of us at any time, and when life kicks us out of safe familiarity we are forced to begin a journey - the journey of adjustment to change and loss.  It can either break us, or make us.  Some people 'never get over' their tragedies or seem able to begin to live again, while others grow enormously through them.  Joseph's journey to Egypt changed him from a spoilt brat into a man of strength.  Jewish rabbis translate the description of his journey in Psalm 105:18 as the time when 'iron entered into his soul'.

Why didn't his terrible experience damage him?  Because 'the Lord was with Joseph' (Genesis 39:2).  He may often have felt abandoned, as we all do when change undermines our security, but he came to recognise God's presence was with him and, even when he had lost everything, God's hand was still there - guiding him all the way.  Years later when he met his brothers again he was able to say, 'You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good' (Genesis 50:20).

People sometimes do often rob us of all that matters to us most. and permanently alter our lives, but they can only destroy us if we let them.

From Water My Soul...

Falls of Life - Read Acts 27

In his wonderful book When God Doesn't make Sense, James Dobson tells the story of a man who was on an eight-day trip downriver with some friends and the raft master who was guiding their raft.  They encountered some treacherous rapids during their journey, but none as bad as the day they dropped over some falls in a canyon where the river sank thirty-seven vertical feet in a distance of seventy five.

There, in the icy spray, with the roar of the churning water thundering in their ears, the raft master seemed to lose control, and their raft was flung sideways in the rapids.  It was a terrible moment.

The man considered jumping: to leap from the raft and pit his strength against that of the frenzied river as it poured downward through the rapids.  Fleetingly, that seemed to be a choice preferable to perishing with the floundering raft.

But he held on, and as he looked back, he could see what had happened.  The raft master had spun the craft sideways on purpose.  He did so to steer past an immense jagged rock that had fallen into the river from the canyon walls far above them.  By going sideways hard and fast, he used the full power of the motor to push them safely past the jutting rock.

Now the man could see that if he had jumped into the river, he would certainly have died.  Leaving the safety of the boat would have killed him instantly.  It only appeared that the raft master had lost control of the situation.  In reality, he was guiding the craft with great expertise.  The raft was sideways for a reason, and the guide knew exactly what he was doing.  Those in the boat were safe as long as they stayed with him.

In Dobson's book, he quotes the words of his friend Bob Vernon: "To those of you who are plunging over the falls today, resist the temptation to jump overboard!  God knows what He is doing.  He has your raft sideways for a reason."

Has your raft ever been flung sideways in the spray?  Does nothing make sense anymore?  That has happened to me on occasion.  Haven't we all at one time or another experienced that sinking feeling of seeing our secure life spiraling out of control?

That's when we make a most important decision.  Sometimes it's a split-second reaction.  Other times it's a dogged determination to hold on, a determination that must be renewed daily.  

Will we believe the Raft Master of life has lost control, and jump into the rapids swirling around us?  Or will we trust that God knows what He is doing, and honour our commitment to follow Him?

In verse 31 of our Scripture for today, Paul tells us what to do: "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved."

Take Paul's words to heart: "If you don't stay on the boat, you won't make it to the shore."  Or reword it like this: "If you turn away from God, He cannot take you safely through the falls and rapids in your life."

Prayer: Lord, there are many things in life that I don't understand.  Help me remember that you know all things and that you will give me the strength to keep my commitment to you, even when things don't make sense.

Reflection: How can I remain committed to God today?