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READ | Acts 14:21-22
If you want a meaningful life, you will at times travel the road of
adversity. However, every hardship in your path has a specific purpose.
Our Father allows pain and trials into His good plan for our life (Rom. 8:28).
When we are facing dark times, the first word that comes to mind is
usually Why? God welcomes our questions but challenges us to obey Him,
even when we don’t get answers (Prov. 3:5-6). In fact, we may have to wait months or years before knowing
the purpose behind a trial. Sometimes the answers don’t come at all in
this lifetime.
Joseph spent 13 harsh, dark years in Egypt. He faced betrayal,
separation from loved ones, and culture shock followed by slavery, false
accusations, and prison time. His only evidence of a sovereign, loving
God was that he consistently prospered, even during times of trouble.
Everything Joseph endured prepared him for a job as Egypt’s prime
minister. While still a boy, he learned the language, culture, and
mindset of a foreign nation. Moreover, the man who emerged from hardship
was the Lord’s disciplined, faithful servant. In the end, Joseph was
positioned to save more than a country; he rescued God’s chosen
people—the family tree of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
Living in the center of the Lord’s love doesn’t guarantee an easy,
pain-free life. In fact, the opposite is true. God loves believers so
much that He conforms each one to His Son’s likeness through any means
necessary. In His expert hand, we become servants whose victories and
trials glorify Him.