Being Saved?!
Thursday, July 13, 2023
The Path Ahead May Not Seem Inviting,
But God Walks With Us
So Nothing
Can Take God’s Blessings
From Us.
Genesis 37:22
Reuben said to his bothers, ‘Shed no blood; throw him (Joseph) into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him’—that Reuben might rescue Joseph out of their hand and restore him to his father.
1 Thessalonians 5:15
See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
Words of Grace For Today
Bad things happen.
Bad things happen every day.
Bad thing happen every day to all kinds of people.
Bad things happen every day to all kinds of people who do not deserve any of it.
Bad things happen every day to all kinds of people who do not deserve any of it, not at all, not at all.
God rarely saves us from the trials of life, even the bad things that happen to us that we do not deserve, not at all, not at all.
God often saves us from the trials of life (even the bad things that happen to us that we do not deserve, not at all, not at all) just not in the ways we expect.
God often saves us from the trials of life and sends us down paths that we will have a hard time recognizing as ‘paths of being saved’.
Joseph’s brothers gang up on him. He’s done enough arrogant things, belittling them, gaining (undeservedly) their father’s favour (at the apparent cost to his brothers), and living an easier life than his older brothers … Joseph has done enough to earn his brothers’ ire. They are about to kill him.
Why not? The world is rough and violent, with many vicious animals that could easily have killed their runt brother. They can get away with it.
But Reuben is not quite on board with the killing or the ganging up. He counsels throwing Joseph into a pit and leaving him to die. That way Reuben can return, save him, his brothers will not know, and all will be well.
Then along comes a caravan of traders on camels, and Joseph is sold into slavery.
God saves Joseph.
Not quite the saving we would imagine, though, this slavery bit.
The rest of the story unfolds. We know it as history.
How many times does God save us, but looking into our futures we do not see it as saving at all!
Yet, God’s story unfolds. We are the characters.
Can we learn to be honest, faithful, and wise slaves to Christ?
All in a day, in the life of God’s saints, the people God saves,
Again and again and again.