Overcome Hard Times by Remembering Who’s In Charge
“When the going gets tough, the tough keep going.” Well, maybe. I might have thought I was tough but when excruciating pain unexpectedly floored me, it not only turned my smiley face upside down but triggered an involuntary verbal response of “Oh, God”!
Apropos to my experience are the words of the psalmist: “I cried out to God for help, I cried out to God to hear me. In distress, I sought the Lord; at night I extended my hands, but my soul refused to be comforted, my spirit grew faint . . . Has God forgotten to be merciful?”
“Then I thought: ‘to this I will appeal: the years of the mighty hand of the Most High.’
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember. I will meditate on all your works and consider your mighty deeds. Your plan, O God, is holy. Who is as great as our God?” (Ps. 77)
Having called on the Lord for help, it was now up to me to use the common sense which God gave me and to utilize the services of caring professionals whose exercise of God-given abilities prepared them for medical crises.
What I had to understand was, in principle, what we all need to understand whenever we face a crisis: God has a plan to see you through any crisis!
If there is any doubt in your mind that God is still in charge and has a plan for seeing you through your crisis, overcome that doubt, as did the psalmist whose mind-set was reflected in a thought he had: “to this fact I will appeal: the years of the mighty hand of the Most High.” “I will remember: God is great, great things He has done.”
A guy named Joseph thought so too! You might say that Joseph and David were on the same page, in that, both of them overcame hard times by remembering who is still in charge and that He who is in charge has a plan to see you through.
A simple formula that works for me is one that I recommend to you:
Look back . . . Look around . . . Look up . . . Look ahead.
Joseph no doubt spent much of his time while in prison engaged in those four exercises – ruminating about his past and how God brought him through the pain and suffering associated with hatred, betrayal, false accusation . . . looking around at the plight of inmates whose burdens he shared while, at the same time, pointing them to the Lord God . . . looking up to Father God, asking for wisdom and courage for dealing with issues with which he was confronted . . . looking ahead in faith to the time when all would be well.
Joseph is about to discover that his two years in prison were not wasted. They prepared him for a future only God could see. In and through it all, Joseph concluded, “it is well with my soul” – due to that tremendous attribute of God which we the people of God would do well to remember: God is sovereign! He rules! He reigns! In Genesis 41, we see seven instances of the sovereignty of God: (connecting the dots)
* Pharaoh had two bizarre dreams. In his first dream seven fat cows coming up out of the Nile River were eaten by seven skinny cows that came out of the same river.
Pharaoh awoke for a few moments, thought about his dream, and then went back to sleep. In the second dream he saw a stalk with seven plump heads of grain on it. Suddenly seven shriveled heads of grain appeared, and they devoured the seven plump heads of grain.
Verse 8 tells what happened next – Genesis 41:8 . . . The magicians couldn’t figure it out. A thousand years of pagan religion could not give the king an answer. Thus, we see that a crisis exposes the futility of the world in dealing with the things that matter most. Without divine help . . . revelation, human wisdom and power can never discover the answer to human need.
* God reminded Pharaoh’s cupbearer about Joseph – Genesis 41:12-13 . . . At just the right moment, God joggled the memory of the one person who knew about someone who could provide the right solution to the king’s dilemma. Just think of how it worked out that, had the cupbearer remembered Joseph earlier, Joseph might have been set free earlier and might have been anywhere, except close by, when he was needed most.
Joseph was just doing his job when he had interpreted the cupbearer’s and the baker’s dreams in prison, but now he is about to see the outcome of what God can do in and through a person wholly dedicated to the Lord.
* God gave Joseph the opportunity of a lifetime – Genesis 41:15-16 . . . Once again Joseph refuses to take any credit. He knows that only God has the right answer to our dilemma.
The interpretation is a good news - bad news situation. First there will be seven years of plenty in the land. The rains will come, crops will be plentiful, and everyone will have more than enough to eat. But the seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of famine.
Then Joseph adds this: “And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about” (v.32).
* God gave Joseph a wise plan. It was a simple and clear plan – engage the services of a “discerning and wise man” (v. 33) to administer the economic affairs of the nation during the seven good years so that one-fifth of the grain is stored in granaries in all the cities of Egypt. The four-fifths will be more than enough to feed the whole nation. By “saving for a rainy day” there will be grain for the people when the seven years of famine hit.
* God moved Pharaoh to choose Joseph – Genesis 41:38-40 . . . Isn’t it amazing how a pagan ruler recognized the greatness of Joseph’s God to the extent that he made Joseph second in command, had no second thoughts about turning it all over to him - even giving this 30-year-old Hebrew an Egyptian wife, the daughter of a pagan priest!
Question: How much of all this had Joseph seen beforehand? Not a bit. How much of it happened by chance? None of it. Who was behind it all? God. Lesson: You don’t always know what God is up to. Trust Him! Others might have meant harm. God meant it for good!
* God did exactly as Joseph predicted. First came the seven years of plenty when there was more than enough food. Even with one-fifth of the crops stored in barns, everyone had all they needed. Good ‘n plenty!
Then what happened? Genesis 41:55 . . . Folks, it all happened as God had planned – the good times and the hard times! As far as Joseph was concerned, he was simply doing God’s will as the prime minister of Egypt. But God had bigger plans in mind. He always does!
Thus, this part of Joseph’s story concludes on a high note – a note of hope – a seventh instance of the sovereignty of God:
* God gave Joseph two sons – Genesis 41:50-52 . . . See how far this man has come – to the point in his life when he can honestly say, “God has made me forget the pain of my past.” Don’t we all need to come to the point where, although we may never “get over” the fact of the negatives of our past - in the sense that we really never forget what happened – we can move on.
Folks, there is no going back for any of us. Likewise, there is no staying here forever. There is the continuing need, however, to look up and to look ahead.
We all go through hard times. Long ago a wise man said, “Into every life some rain must fall.” That is true, but I would add, “Back of the clouds the sun is always shining.”
From time to time, take some time for looking back . . . looking around . . . looking up . . . looking ahead.
No crisis in your life surprises God! He has a plan for seeing you through. It’s been that way ever since you gave your heart and life to Jesus. It will be that way throughout the rest of your days in the “here and now”. It will be that way throughout eternity. For, you see, our God is an awesome God. Great and mighty is He! The best is indeed yet to be! Amen.
