21 God was still with Joseph: He reached out in kindness to him; he put him on good terms with the head jailer.
– Genesis 39:21
He's in Your Tough Places
Where is the most unholy, most disgusting, most dangerous, most awful place you have ever been? I can list quite a few places but I'd have to say that the Houston city jail's holding tanks would be right there at the top of my list. It was worse than even having to spend a week in the cargo elevator pits of a navy ship cleaning the sludge ( as part of my punishment for oversleeping one day). I won't go into detail on why I was in the city jail, but just know that it was hot, and humid, and smelly, and scary, and chaotic, and uncertain, and disgusting, and the most awful place I can remember having to spend time in. Even though it was only for 3 days, it seemed like eternity as I stood/leaned against the wall the entire time (the benches and seating areas were all occupied by very large men with hair on their knuckles and warts on their eyeballs), and I tried to sleep with one eye open (and with my back to the wall). I wasn't a Christian back then, but growing up Catholic, I knew who God was and I couldn't imagine Him ever stepping foot into a place like that.
But God!
That's right! God is in jails. He's in sludge pits. He's in prison cells. He's in execution chambers. He's in the most vile, disgusting, evil places on earth . . . as long as His children are there. God goes with us, and He is with us as long as we need Him to be (which is always). In fact, the Bible says He goes BEFORE us, and He makes sure the path is made clear for us. That's how good our God; our Father; the Creator and Lover of our very souls is to us. He loves us so much that He doesn't even think twice about it, and what's even better is that He influences those around us and puts us on good terms with those in authority over us.
Now what does that mean? Well it doesn't mean that every situation is going to be easy. Look at Paul's life. He was beaten up and stoned and left for dead, and he had to go through a lot of pain and suffering . . . but God was still with him. So what it does mean is that even though we have to go through stuff, and sometimes we are unjustly thrust into bad places and situations, God still has a plan for us. And if we are in relationship with Him, then He will make sure that we come through whatever we have to go through, and we will still have favor.
If you never read the book, The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom, I recommend you read it. In one recounting of the events in a concentration camp, it shows that God used a lice and flea infestation as a means to keep the guards away so that the prisoners could spend time in prayer, and Bible study, and ministering to each other. God was in the concentration camp, and even though there was death, and cruelty, and evil all around, He was there with His angels, ministering and working things out. He was still God and He was still good, even though his children were suffering.
You see we all have stuff to go through. We all have injustices that happen and wrongs done to us that may never be made right, but our Father, Who is in heaven, Whose Name is Holy, Whose Kingdom will come (regardless of what's happening to us), Whose Will, will be done – even while we are suffering through "stuff" here on earth, and just like it is and has always been done in heaven, Who will provide for us the Grace we need today (and again tomorrow, and then again the next and the next and the next day), Who is faithful to forgive our sins (so we should be forgiving those who oppress us and who do us harm), Who will never let us be tempted without a way out ( a decision we have to make each time), and Who WILL deliver us from Satan's traps and plans to destroy our relationship with Him.
God is God . . . ALL the time, and everywhere, and in each situation – both good and bad. He Loves us, and even though we have to fall, and we have to go through some bad stuff, and we sometimes find ourselves in some pretty nasty places, His loving arms are there to embrace us and to hold us and to comfort us. He is ALWAYS right there with us.
Prayer
Father, thank You for being willing to go with us no matter where we find ourselves. Thank You for never abandoning us in most desperate times of need. Even though it may seem like You are nowhere to be found, if we just look, and listen, and quiet ourselves in reflection of who You are, we will find you. Thank You for loving us so very much!
Have a blessed day everyone!
– Richard
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