Do you ever feel like God is taking the long way around in trying to lead you in life? Some people struggle with making sense of life with its many winding, bumpy roads which twist and turn every which way (and never seem to smooth out for very long).
Enter Joseph in Genesis. Prentice Meador writes of Joseph, “Greatness is always forged in the furnace of failures, problems, and disappointments. Some of the greatest people we know are people who have gone through unemployment, illness, difficulty, and family hardships like Joseph” (The Great Story, p. 128).
Joseph and his faithfulness, wisdom, and integrity are obvious in Genesis. But so are his wounds and his suffering. Joseph held onto his faith in God year after year even as his disappointments mounted. As we wade into Scripture, we learn more about this God of Joseph.
While we find numerous people and glimpses into their stories across fifty chapters, we primarily find God in Genesis, the “Book of Beginnings.” We find that there is one God, and he has no competitors. He is the Creator, Sustainer, Judge, Covenant Maker, and Guide. He is a God of faithful, unrelenting, loyal love.
Praise God! He graciously reveals himself through Scripture as a relational God who loves, sustains, and blesses us every day. And, like Joseph and many others who have gone before us, we are challenged to embrace God’s call.
Let Joseph help you feed your faith in the God he came to know intimately, through scores of deep disappointments. You may feel like life is a mess right now. But keep in mind: God will be with you in your life, whether it is messy or tidy. Keep the faith. God sees you.
The God of Joseph will never abandon you.