Genesis 41:53-57 “When the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end, the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt. When extreme hunger came to all the land of Egypt and the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. And every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.”
WOW! Only a few years ago, Joseph was languishing in a prison, disgraced, abandoned, and seemingly forgotten by everyone, including those whom he had helped. But God had not forgotten Joseph; He was using Joseph’s problems to shape him into an administrator and leader who would save untold numbers of people from starvation.
James 1:2-3 tells us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Joseph has suffered through years of imprisonment but has learned a great deal about managing logistics and people. Now God has promoted Joseph into a position of great power and authority, all because Joseph has trusted God and not himself. When Joseph has interpreted dreams, he has always been careful to give God the credit. Through the years, Joseph has worked steadily, learning as much as possible and observing everything around him. By the time Joseph reached Egypt, the Egyptian government was already highly developed, quite a change for a boy from a sheep camp. Joseph needed those years in which to mature and to learn.
The late Colin Powell was the son of Jamaican immigrants and grew up in the South Bronx in New York City. Powell learned Yiddish while working for Eastern European Jewish shop keepers and also served as a Shabbosh goy, a non-Jew who would do simple things for observant Orthodox Jews on the Sabbath. Powell once described some of his fellow shop employees as men who would stand on street corners boasting of the great things they would do in the future. Sadly, all those men did was to boast; meanwhile, Powell worked his way through high school and university and joined the ROTC, Reserve Officers Training Corps, while in university. Powell gained his military commission through the ROTC and became a U.S. Army officer. Eventually, Powell rose to become President Ronal Reagan’s National Security Advisor, and later the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense.
Dr. Ben Carson began life as the son of an illiterate single mother in the slums of Detroit, but he eventually became head of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University. Although Carson’s mother could not read, she made sure that her children frequented the local library, bringing home books that they would read to her. Carson credits his mother’s example of hard work and faith as one of the major reasons for his later success.
Both Powell and Carson continues to serve as sterling examples of the heights one can reach by learning all the lessons early struggles can teach. Sadly, Powell died in 2021 from complications of COVID; however, Carson still has a vibrant ministry and continues to speak into millions of lives.
At the time I was growing up on a Midwestern farm, mechanization of farm work had yet to arrive. Much of the work involved hard manual labor; there were very few overweight farmers in my community. Because our landlord was reluctant to make improvements on our house, we didn’t have pipe-born water in the house until I was 5 and we continued to use an outdoor toilet until I was 13. Late in the summer, the water level in our wells would dwindle, and we frequently had to send our laundry to my grandparents’ place to save the water at our place for our animals. Little did I know that God was preparing me to live in a remote northern Ghanaian village without electricity or running water.
Years ago, Paul E. Billheimer wrote an excellent book based on the Book of James entitled Don’t Waste Your Sorrows. In that book, Billheimer emphasizes that sorrows are not meant to punish but to teach and we need to learn as much as we can from our suffering.
Are you in a difficult position, one from which you would like release? Do you feel you are between a rock and a hard place? Ask God to show you what He wants to teach you during this time and praise Him for the lessons He is going to give you. Just as James has said, God wants you to be “mature and complete, lacking nothing.” And as Billheimer has pointed out, don’t waste your sorrows! When you accept your position, as difficult as it might be, and learn what you can from it, you will gain peace.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us feel trapped in unpleasant situations. Help us to realize that You have placed us there only for a season and that the sooner we learn our lessons, the more quickly our situations will change. Thank You for answering our prayers for help. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment