Where Is God Through All This?

Scripture:

Genesis 39:21-23 (NIV)

the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.  So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.  The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Devotional:

Sometimes circumstances in our lives are not ideal.  Things do not turn out the way we would like.  We pray and we ask God why.  Sometimes we get angry with God.  God will heal us, and He provides for us.  We have His protection.  So why are there times we go through troubles and strife?  Whey do we get sick and sometimes die?  Why do we get hurt, mugged, robbed, or worse?  If God provides, protects, and heals why?

A simple answer to all this is sin.  Yep, because of sin in the world there is sickness.  Because of sin people get hurt and killed.  Because of sin people are mistreated.  Joseph was no different.  Reading through Genesis you learn Joseph was sold into slavery by his very own brothers.  His master’s wife tries to seduce him.  When she fails to do so Joseph ends up in prison.  Despite all this God showed Joseph favor.  God protected him and prospered him.  All that Joseph did was a huge success.  It wasn’t because of anything Joseph did.  It was because Joseph trusted God through all of it.  It is because of what God did because Joseph trusted Him.

It is hard, but we were never promised easy.  No matter what we go through we need to remember God is with us just as He was with Joseph.  In the end it will be alright.  In the end we are healed, we have protection, we have provisions.  In the end we have all we need and more.  What we lack in this life will be made up for in Heaven.  We may not see God’s hand at work.  It may not feel that He is doing anything.  Rest assured God is there.  God is working.  He was with Joseph and He is with us…