Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
If you could go back in time, what would you change about your life? Let’s face it, we all think about this and imagine what life would be like if only…. If only we hadn’t said or done something, or if only something hadn’t happened to us. After something bad happens, people often say something like, “God must want to teach you something through this” as if we are ‘victims’ of a God who toys with us to watch us squirm.
What we learn from the Bible is as long as we are in this world, bad things will happen because we live in a fallen world. We also learn that God is not the author of those events, but the ‘evil one’ is. What God does, however, is to take the events, good and bad, from our life and transform them into good, if we allow him and cooperate with him. Don’t try to change the past, instead trust God to transform your future.
Nothing is wasted with God. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, they set the stage for his rise in Egypt. When Jesus died and was buried, he was put in the right place for resurrection. The zeal of Saul the persecutor changed into the passion of Paul the apostle.
Since nothing is wasted with God, there is no point in trying to change history. Instead, trust God to transform your future.
“You cannot receive what you don’t give.
Outflow determines inflow.” ~Eckhart Tolle
Let us gather our gifts together and offer them to
God and the church in gratitude and praise