There Are No Dead-End Streets With Him

Rev. Lynn Wilhite spoke from the pulpit on Sunday.

Genesis 45:1-15 formed the basis of her message. Take time to read it now. Click the Scripture reference if you don't have a Bible with you and read it on-line.

Rev. Wilhite reviewed the entire story of Joseph and all the dead-end street experiences he had.

By faith Joseph recognized the Lord's presence each time:

In the horror of being sold into slavery by his brothers... The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. (Genesis 39:2)

In the false accusations of his master's wife and his unjust arrest... But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (Genesis 39:21)

As I re-read the Scripture, Joseph's attitude and his take on reality astound me. Because surely he should blame his brothers for his enslavement and Potiphar's wife for his unjust incarceration, but no. Joseph gives God credit for sending him to hard places.

...God sent me before you to preserve life.

... God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth...

So it was not you who sent me here, but God. ...

Genesis 45:5, 7-8 ESV

And I wonder... Do I see God's hand in the circumstances leading to dead-end streets? Do you?

Joseph learned to trust God's sovereignty even in terrible circumstances.

He remained faithful, no matter how far away God seemed.

He trusted God and His way even when it looked like it was going no where.

Joseph persevered to the end and recognized the power of God and His plan to preserve life. Joseph's and his entire family's.

And if we go farther in the story. We see Joseph's faith making the way for eternal life through Jesus for all of us. For all humanity.

This is the reality I want to live from. The one where God is sovereign. The one where God has supreme power to turn evil into good. The reality seen and experienced through faith and faithfulness.

The reality where God intentionally allows us to experience trials, end up on dead-end streets, because He knows when we trust in Him there are no dead-ends. And the experiences we gain when we choose faith help us to grow into a perfect people...

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:2-4 ESV

Count in all joy... for there are no dead-end streets with Him...

Carol Weaver