Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Worship for Today: Our Lord is beyond our scrutiny!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Genesis 41:1a,

When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream…”

Here in this chapter we see a very dramatic culmination of events the Lord has brought about. Joseph is sold to an official in Egypt. He is falsely accused and thrown in prison where two fellow prisoners have dreams. One, Pharaohs cupbearer, is released after Joseph interprets his dream. After forgetting Joseph for two years, the Lord gives Pharaoh two dreams that so concern him he looks for an interpretation of them. Joseph is remembered by the cupbearer and is released and tells Pharaoh the interpretation of the dreams. Joseph is placed in charge of the land as one whom Pharaoh recognizes has wisdom from God. As I say, this is a very dramatic story and one in which God demonstrates his ability to craft precision events in a way to bring about exactly what he desires.

One thing that does not escape my notice, however, is that Joseph is left in prison for two years after interpreting the dreams of the cupbearer and baker (who was hanged). So, here we read of two years of dead time for Joseph in prison. Why didnt the Lord construct the events in such a way that moved Joseph through the prison quickly without loosing two years of his life there?

The Scripture does not provide a purpose for Josephs two years in prison. Possibly there were some things the Lord wanted Joseph to learn in the school of hard knocks while in prison; maybe some character growth or maturity? Were there other considerations we are unaware of, that are not provided for in the account that required this two year stint of Joseph in prison? We just dont know. Certainly we can surmise.

Here is one thing we do know: our Lord is transcendent in all he does. What the Lord does is always marked with a precision and perfection that strains our grasp. Joseph was never forgotten by the Lord in prison, he was there by design. We are not told the why of the timing but we certainly know what the timing was. As I think of the challenges we face in life, why things shake out the way they do, I need look no further than this account of Joseph to realize that I may never know why the Lords timing is what it is, but I certainly know that his timing is precision and that our Lord crafts the details of events to bring about a perfection that reflects the perfections of his character and nature.

When we say our Lord is transcendent, we recognize that our Lord is quite simply beyond scrutiny!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 


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