When We See the, But God, In Our Story

 

But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place?  And as for you, you meant evil against me, BUT GOD meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.  So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your littles ones."  So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.  Genesis 50:19-21

He said similar words years before when he revealed himself to his brothers... "Don't be angry or grieved with yourselves... FOR GOD sent me before you to preserve life." Genesis 45:5

Joseph saw God in his story and it made all the difference in his life and story.

Those words spoken about you aren't truthful, but God...

I have cancer, but God...

Those people rejected me, but God...

Someone else received the applause or promotion, but God...

Put in the hard you are walking through, but choose to look beyond to see God in the story.  Look beyond to the possibilities of what God may do.  That may be too difficult right now as the muck of the hard is too much; that's ok, simply choose to stay with God, trusting Him that He is in your story.

As I think of all that Joseph walked through, the hatred, the selling to a strange people and ending up in Egypt, resisting temptation then ending in prison because of words spoken that were not truthful, being forgotten by a fellow inmate and at the end of it all; he could say the words... "you meant it for evil, but God... meant it for life."

He saw God in his story and it kept him from bitterness and retaliation.  When I loose sight of God in my story, at how big He really is; I get stuck, mired in the pain and all too quickly I walk in the muck of self-pity and revengeful thoughts.

For a bit the waves of the storm threatened to take over, I lost sight of how big my God is and discouragement set in. 

Look at your problem and God becomes smaller. Look at God and your storm diminishes.

And I'm reminded of Peter, the moment he walked on the stormy waters to Jesus was also the moment he sank when he looked at the stormy waters. But he cried out to Jesus and Jesus stretched out His arm to save him. 

The way of God is the way to life.  God is still in the life-preserving business.  

With God there is no room for retaliation because there is always a bigger picture happening.  The hard part for me is to trust God, I mean really trusting Him and looking beyond to the possibilities of, but God.

The Faith of Seeing Beyond

 

What's ahead? What awaits me around the bend? In the fog, I can't see far.  What's enshrouded in the mist?

Unknowns. Disappointments. Anxiety. Hard places.

These are the fertile soil where fears can take root in our hearts. The tender, worked up soil where faith can take root is also the place where fears can take root.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. So, if it's that important, what is faith?

Faith - Webster defines it as an unquestioning belief that does not require evidence; trust, confidence.

God defines faith in Hebrews 11:1.  It says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. "

Assurance. Conviction. The assurance and conviction that God is for me.  So I then can choose to believe what is unseen above what I'm seeing in my circumstances and what they are screaming to me in the moment. 

It takes faith to see beyond, to learn the heartbeat of the One Who created us and to trust Him.

How do we catch a glimpse of eternity to stay engaged with Jesus in the middle of unanswered petitions, watching wrong choices being chosen by loved ones, relationships gone awry, and more? 

To see beyond, is the wrestling of faith and fear. It's the space of finding Jesus and choosing at times, to stay and believe Him and His words of truth, even if it doesn't make sense or all is so unclear. 

To see beyond gives us the strength to keep on, keeping on.

To see beyond is to know and find God in our stories. 

I get so embroiled in the happenings of my life and all the details playing out before me.  Some days I can see through it all, the joys, the sorrows, the lovely things and hard, the peace and the chaos.  But some days the negative and hard threaten to sink my ship with all its turbulent waters. 

How God, do I make sense of all this? How do I keep going?

May I hide? May I walk away?

Jesus whispers, "What did I do?" 

"I am the Way. I am the Truth. I am the Life. I came.  I came to be present, to show you the way through is the way with Me."

II Kings 6 tells us the story of an army that surrounds prophet Elisha and his servant.  The servant awoke just like any other day only to discover the army surrounding the mountain they were on.  All fear rose up within him and he cried out, "What shall we do?!?"

Elisha's response beckons us to remember who is with us.  His reply was, "Don't be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them".

Then he prays a prayer, "O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see".  And He did.  The servant saw the horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.  God was with Elisha on that mountain, surrounding him with His presence.

Elisha was confident in God's provision.  (I really wonder what Elisha was seeing...)

Open our eyes to see... 

Yes, Lord, I get it just a little bit more. You are in our stories, just like You were a part of Elisha's story and many others.

You want us to see You. And when we see You, we get a glimpse of beyond. 

While all this is good and true, how do we live the way of seeing beyond??

I have found it's not an easy 1,2,3 to find God but there are a few things I have learned that helps make this tangible and ways that God has become visible in all the muck and mire, joys and successes of life.

1) Gratefulness - learning to view life through the lens of gratefulness is a powerful shift.  In every sorrow there is a gift or something we can say thanks for.  We don't have to be grateful for what is happening, but in every happening there is something to find and give thanks for.  Reframing sorrow is a step toward finding God and His healing love.

2) Acknowledge the both/and - in life we experience joy and sorrow; pain and healing.  It's not one or the other, but both.  When I learned to be okay with both and didn't need to choose one, I found life to be full, for the depth of pain or sorrow I was experiencing is the height of knowing God's love and His peace and joy beyond measure.

3) To live today - to wake up each day, claiming the grace of God and His new morning mercies. (Lamentations 3)  Learning to live with grace for today and sometimes only the moment that is right before me, was to live in rest from all the lies and frantic expectations.  To not let yesterday's choices affect today. Today is a new day, another beginning, a fresh start.  Living in God's new morning mercies is so freeing, it's grace.  Today is God's manna grace, just what is needed for today!

Elisha eyes - seeing beyond what is surrounding me because I am learning there is more with us than with them.

Seeing -

Beyond me to You. 

Beyond my strength to Yours.

Beyond my finite to glimpsing a bit of Your infinity.

Beyond my control to Your all-seeing eye. 

Beyond my workings to orchestrate plans to trusting Your working all things for good. 

Beyond my doubts, questions, confusions,  to see a choosing of staying with You because You hold us in Your everlasting arms.

Beyond temporal to get a glimpse of eternal.

So, LORD, as only You can do, untangle all the threads that threaten to ensnare us and keep us caught in the web of fear and unrest and guilt.

To see beyond is to find You present and rise on the  eagle's wings to soar in the confidence and belief of Your power, strength, and goodness, in spite of and because of.

To see beyond is to let God's love sink into our hearts and see others through that lens. 

One of many of my favorite quotes, "To love someone means to SEE them as God intended them." Fyodor Dostoyersky

To see beyond can only be seen when I allow His grace, love, and mercy to impact my heart deeper and deeper.  For God's vision is beyond and above ours. We are finite, He is infinite. 

He is here. He is present, with us.

Quote, "For the Author has written Himself into the Story and now walks with us until the Story is finished in His time, in His way, for His honour and His glory. All is well."  -Peretti 

And all is well with my soul for the Author of my story is the Finisher of my story and He'll keeps us all in the middle moments of our story. 

Faith, the vision of seeing beyond, shifting, so our heart's eyes can catch a glimpse of the Author who truly loves us deeply. 

Faith the vision of staying with Jesus, abiding in His presence when our flesh says, "Leave, God is not trustworthy".

Faith is seeing beyond.