God is always so faithful to give encouragement to us when we need it the most, and since I know so many who are standing for the restoration of their marriages are feeling tired and discouraged right now, I really hope the TV broadcast message from Charles Stanley today will help put things in better perspective.

I stopped writing posts on the weekends a while back, with just a few exceptions here and there, so I was surprised that as I was going to sleep last night, the Lord put two verses in my mind, which I knew He meant for me to use in a post today. The first verse was Proverbs 3:5-6, which says Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. And the second verse was Isaiah 55:8-9, which says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. I just remember thinking that was sort of interesting as I went to sleep, and then the verses were in my mind again when I woke up this morning, but I still didn’t know exactly what the Lord wanted me to do with them.

Then I saw Charles Stanley’s message and couldn’t believe it, because his message was centered around Joseph and the trials he went through before his dream came to pass, and how all of those trials were ultimately used to make his dream a reality! There couldn’t possibly be a better example of both of those passages of scripture than the story of Joseph, so that’s got to be what the Lord wants to remind all of us of today, and any time we’re facing doubt and discouragement. We just can’t try to apply our limited understanding to the things of God, and if we don’t understand that, we’ll probably end up giving up on our dreams and losing out on the awesome promises God gave us in His word. So, please read the story of Joseph, VERY CAREFULLY, because there are SO many things we can learn in it. For instance, I’m struck not only by the amazing way the terrible and totally unfair and unjust things that happened to Joseph were absolutely necessary for God’s plan for him to be perfected, which is an awesome example of Romans 8:28 being carried out in it’s highest form, but it’s also very interesting to note how many other people benefited from his faithfulness and obedience! And the same thing is true of all of us. The things we do or don’t do, won’t just make a difference in our lives, but they will make a huge difference in the lives of our husbands, children, other family members, and no telling how many other people.

And even though we’ve probably all heard many messages about Joseph, there’s SO much more to learn from reading ALL of it for ourselves. So PLEASE read it, because it’s got to be one of the most encouraging and inspiring stories in the Bible, especially for those who have dreams and then experience the “pits” and think that their dreams are no longer possible. It shows us how the Lord allows and uses EVERYTHING that happens to us as HE prepares us for the future HE has planned for us. Joseph’s story begins in Genesis 37, and the long, but very awesome REST of the story is found in Genesis 39-50. So don’t miss it!

And don’t miss Charles Stanley’s AWESOME message from this morning, Walking Through Dark Valleys! And please don’t let the difficulty of the process cause you to lose out on your dream and the awesome promises of God! I often tell the ladies that the God we love so much, and who we know loves us so much, isn’t going to call us to run this race, a marathon race at that, only to shoot us just before we cross the finish line! If He called us to it, He WILL be faithful to get us through it!

Posted Sunday, August 13th, 2006 at 10:15 pm in Seeds Of Faith.