will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. "
Hebrews 13:5
A ROUGH START
Read It: Genesis 37:1-11
There aren't many of us who don't get broken sometime, somehow. If it hasn't happened to you yet, simply keep living, and your turn will come. Whether you become the breaker or the one broken, life has a way of catching up with us all. That's why we need to learn the art of spiritual rebounding, the ability ity to recover from a missed shot and get back into the game. One area where all of us have experienced pain is in broken relationships. ships. Because we're all sinners, when we start relating to one another, things get broken. It may go back to your childhood when you were rejected by your father or mother. You may have a history of abuse, betrayal, and divorce.
Or you may have friends or loved ones you don't talk to anymore. Broken relationships come in all shapes, sizes, and degrees. They can last a long time. But this problem is not new to God. He's aware of any broken relationship you maybe suffering from today, and He has a word of hope and healing for you. To find that word we want to look at the life of Joseph this week. The last fourteen chapters of Genesis record his remarkable life, and as we study the Bible together, we'll see that it tells the whole truth about relationships. Joseph didn't come from an ideal family, to say the least. He was the eleventh son of Jacob, the master deceiver. By this time Jacob had gotten ten his spiritual act together, but his ten older-sons-took after Dad. They once deceived and killed an entire city of men because one of the men had raped their sister (see Genesis 34, especiallyv. 13). And they are about to commit their worst deed of treachery against Joseph. This was not what you would call a well-adjusted family. Joseph had a lot going against him, yet the Bible presents him to us as a man of greatness and dignity. I say this to let you know that just because your mama is bad and your daddy is bad and your brothers or sisters are bad, you don't have to be messed up too. With God's help, you can rise above your circumstances. Think About It There's no denying that your past has influenced you. But it need not control you.
No Comments