Joseph's Pit

“The LORD was with Joseph…”
(Genesis 39:2 & 21)

Joseph’s life was the “pits”…literally. Two times Joseph spent time in a pit. Once was when his “loving” brothers took him, at the age of 15, and threw him in a pit, with the intent to kill him. But God had other plans. So he was sold into slavery which ended him up in Egypt, in the house of  Potiphar the captain of the guards of Pharaoh. At this point the Bible says something very important, “The Lord was with Joseph…” This is not the only time we will see this in the life of Joseph.

Another time is when Joseph, while working in Potiphar’s house, was seduced by Potiphar’s wife. He stood strong and instead of sleeping with her, he ran. Which made her very angry, she accused him of rape and had him arrested. Again he was thrown into a pit, Egypt’s version of prison, where he spent many years. But again we see in verse 21, “…the Lord was with Joseph…” It’s cool that both times this is stated, is when he was pulled from a pit.

You ever feel like your life is full of pits? Unemployment pits. Loneliness pits. Divorce pits. Dead-end job pits, pits of emptiness, debt, and struggles. If so, remember one thing if you are a child of God who is living for Him…the Lord is with you. The same God that was with Joseph through the pits of his life…is the same God that is and will be with you through yours. And not only will He be with you, He will also make what you do and what you are involved in, within His will, succeed (Genesis 39:2 & 23).


Vern

Great Tools

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”

(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

All tool companies seem to believe that they have the best tools. The best screwdriver to the best nail gun, they all believe they have the best, but what really makes them the best tools? You can take any tool and place it in my hands and it surly wouldn’t make it the best…or even a good one. 

A chisel and hammer in my hands, you’ll get a chipped up piece of stone that looks like a chipped up piece of stone. But in the hands of Michelangelo it would become a David. A circular saw in my hands and you will have some miss-cut boards and bad measurements. But in the hands of Bob Vila, you’ll have a beautiful home. It’s not the tool that is great when it’s just lying there not being used, or even in the hands of a novice…it’s when that tool hits the hands of a master craftsman that it becomes a great, useful tool.

My life in my hands…an awful mess, but in the hands of the Master Craftsman, you will have a useful tool. Jesus takes my life of nothing and before He ever starts He sees what He wants me to be and do. 

When I see what Michelangelo & Bob Vila have done and do, I don’t fully understand how they do it. They take a stone or a pile of lumber and make something beautiful. The tools they used never talked back to them, told them how to sculpt, build or ever jumped up on their own and did the work…they are useless without the craftsman. I don’t fully understand how Jesus takes my life and does what He does. But the good thing is, I don’t have to fully understand it…just enjoy it. Put your life in His hands and see what He does with you. 

Vern