Reader, if you wouldn't mind indulging me, I would like to solidify a
vagueness that's been rolling around in my head. I've been thinking about
Joseph from Genesis 37 and 39-50, whose life went something like this:
"Hey, everybody, guess what? I've been dreaming awesome things lately!"
"You know what? We hate you. Now we will strip you, throw you away, and recycle you elsewhere as a slave. We'll lie to your dad and tell him that you're dead."
"This isn't the awesomeness that I'd been dreaming about. What the heck? I need to trust God, anyway. Aw, check it out. I've got a job in an important person's house, and he's put a lot of trust in me."
"You know what? You've had such a hard life, and you're so good-looking. I'm going to tempt you to do intimate things with me, and you'll feel much better. Nobody will see. Nobody will hear. Nobody will know."
"No bleeping way. I gotta stand up for what's right."
"You know what? Now I will unjustly accuse you. You're just a slave who's destined to rot in prison for life."
"This life is becoming increasingly unawesome. What the bleeping heck? But I still need to trust God, anyway. I have no idea what's going on, but I know when I was younger, I dreamed of awesomeness, and I still know that my God is awesome. He's with me, even here in this prison. Check it out. Even the prison officials seem to trust me. Oooh! My fellow prisoners have dreams, too. I can help them figure out their dreams. Hey, guys, I'm living out a prison sentence that was given to me very injustly. Could you please put in a word for me with the king? I would love to get out of here ASAP."
"Nobody's going to remember you. Nobody cares about you. You don't matter."
"This totally sucks, but I'm still breathing, and I know that my awesome God wants me. Awww, check it out! The king needed help with his dream, and after I helped him, he decided to trust me to help run his kingdom. Now a whole bunch of people are being helped because of me. I'm getting married, and I'm having two kids, and life is moving forward. There's a major famine in the land, but I get to help people and show them what God can do when everything seems dark."
"Hi, uh, Joseph, uh, sir. Uh... remember us? Heh, heh. We're your brothers who totally partnered with your enemy and totally dissed you. Could you please not kill us?"
"Oh, I'm in charge now. You think I'm going to miss an opportunity to mess with y'all? Chill out. What y'all intended for my death, God has been working out for my life. He's awesome, and He helps me, and now I'm going to help you. Hmm. My life hasn't been very dreamy, but it turned out to be awesome after all."
In case you've ever thought that the Bible is just another collection of fairy tales that was written by dreamers, that's an understandable idea to believe. But when you meet this God who authored the Bible (and wrote it through people who were very sensitive to listen to Him), and you begin to get to know Him, you'll know the truth of how He intricately read your mail before He ever wrote it, before you were ever born, before the people in the Bible were ever born or conceived. He wants you, He wants to hang out with you, He wants to know you, and He wants you to know Him.
"Hey, everybody, guess what? I've been dreaming awesome things lately!"
"You know what? We hate you. Now we will strip you, throw you away, and recycle you elsewhere as a slave. We'll lie to your dad and tell him that you're dead."
"This isn't the awesomeness that I'd been dreaming about. What the heck? I need to trust God, anyway. Aw, check it out. I've got a job in an important person's house, and he's put a lot of trust in me."
"You know what? You've had such a hard life, and you're so good-looking. I'm going to tempt you to do intimate things with me, and you'll feel much better. Nobody will see. Nobody will hear. Nobody will know."
"No bleeping way. I gotta stand up for what's right."
"You know what? Now I will unjustly accuse you. You're just a slave who's destined to rot in prison for life."
"This life is becoming increasingly unawesome. What the bleeping heck? But I still need to trust God, anyway. I have no idea what's going on, but I know when I was younger, I dreamed of awesomeness, and I still know that my God is awesome. He's with me, even here in this prison. Check it out. Even the prison officials seem to trust me. Oooh! My fellow prisoners have dreams, too. I can help them figure out their dreams. Hey, guys, I'm living out a prison sentence that was given to me very injustly. Could you please put in a word for me with the king? I would love to get out of here ASAP."
"Nobody's going to remember you. Nobody cares about you. You don't matter."
"This totally sucks, but I'm still breathing, and I know that my awesome God wants me. Awww, check it out! The king needed help with his dream, and after I helped him, he decided to trust me to help run his kingdom. Now a whole bunch of people are being helped because of me. I'm getting married, and I'm having two kids, and life is moving forward. There's a major famine in the land, but I get to help people and show them what God can do when everything seems dark."
"Hi, uh, Joseph, uh, sir. Uh... remember us? Heh, heh. We're your brothers who totally partnered with your enemy and totally dissed you. Could you please not kill us?"
"Oh, I'm in charge now. You think I'm going to miss an opportunity to mess with y'all? Chill out. What y'all intended for my death, God has been working out for my life. He's awesome, and He helps me, and now I'm going to help you. Hmm. My life hasn't been very dreamy, but it turned out to be awesome after all."
In case you've ever thought that the Bible is just another collection of fairy tales that was written by dreamers, that's an understandable idea to believe. But when you meet this God who authored the Bible (and wrote it through people who were very sensitive to listen to Him), and you begin to get to know Him, you'll know the truth of how He intricately read your mail before He ever wrote it, before you were ever born, before the people in the Bible were ever born or conceived. He wants you, He wants to hang out with you, He wants to know you, and He wants you to know Him.
I enjoy reading the 'Tirzah' version of God's Word...thanks!
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