P. O. Box 46358
Baton Rouge, LA 70895
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Dear friends,
What a great weekend we had up in the mountains of Colorado at Camp Idrahaji with Pastor Walt Rogers and the men of Harvest Bible Church! The deep bond of brotherhood among those men and the strong love relationship between them and their pastor was more beautiful than the mountains that surrounded us.
On Friday evening, we began our study of the life of Joseph by first looking at the extraordinarily difficult environment in which this young seventeen-year-old received his dreams. As one man has said, Joseph’s family wasn’t exactly the Brady Bunch! Incest, rape, murder, looting, favoritism, jealousy, hatred, and the death of his mother when he was only twelve: this was Joseph’s family experience. Yet Genesis 37:5 says, “Then Joseph had a dream.” Through Joseph’s experience, we received an important reminder that I now pass on to you: whatever your life situation has been or now is, no matter how difficult, God has purposes for your life that He will reveal to you as you trust in Him and listen to Him. This is true not only for young men like Joseph, but for you, no matter what your age may be.
Then on Saturday we continued our study as we considered all of the great challenges and temptations that Joseph faced – things that could have prevented him from fulfilling the dreams that God gave him:
• jealousy and open hostility from his brothers,
• distress as he cried out for mercy to his brothers who had thrown him down into a dry cistern,
• displacement, both geographical and vocational, as he was sold and taken down to Egypt as a slave,
• seduction “day after day” by Potiphar’s wife,
• wrongful accusation of sexually assaulting this woman whose advances he spurned,
• despair during his lengthy time in prison, and
• bitterness which could have poisoned his soul when the cupbearer, whose dream he had interpreted, forgot about him and put in no good word for him to Pharoah for two full years.
Joseph overcame all of these things because, as the Scripture says, “The Lord was with Joseph” (even as He promised to be with you and me “always”).
But then came what was arguably his most difficult temptation – revenge! Joseph was no longer in prison: he was in the palace as vice-regent of Egypt. Revenge was his for the taking. Instead, when he at last revealed his identity to his brothers, he said these mercy-filled words to them: “Please come near to me.” And as they came near, Joseph declared his solid confidence in the sovereignty of God: “It was not you but God who sent me here (to Egypt).” Three times he said to them, “God sent me. God sent me. God sent me.” Years later, in his final conversation with them, he said, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
Brothers and sisters, we must learn to think and trust like Joseph. As Alexander MacClaren says, “We must learn to look beyond man to God.” We must also learn to love as Joseph loved. The Scripture says he “kissed all his brothers and wept on them.” Is there anyone to whom you should go with such love? May the Holy Spirit fill us with mercy and kindness.
I wish that I had time to write each of you a personal letter. I hope that you don’t mind that instead we rely upon monthly letters such as this one to maintain regular correspondence with you. If you have a moment to send a quick email with some news or prayer requests, we would love to hear from you.
In the Savior,
Rod (for Bec and me)
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