| Photo by Pedro Lima on Unsplash
Following Jesus does not exempt us from the school of hard knocks. We will encounter things in our lives, but how we respond differs from how we grow and must redo the class again.
Someone said, “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it.” I choose how I will respond.
Genesis 39: 21-23, we read: “BUT the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with Joseph and caused everything he did to succeed.”
Think about how we would respond to all that Joseph had to learn in the school of hard knocks. His family hated him, and He was sold as a slave. He was sold again, and he was accused of rape and thrown in jail. How would our relationship be with the Lord?
Why did Joseph respond the way that he did? BECAUSE THE LORD WAS WITH HIM! It is one thing to say and another to live out daily. The Lord promises us: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” But do we really believe that when we face trials, tragedies, and temptation?
We also read: “That the Lord showed Joseph His faithful love.” God is faithful in our situation today! If we respond correctly, God will bless us, protect us, and use life to teach us that God is working in our lives for His glory and our testimony!
Today, let’s respond like Joseph because we serve the same God! Lord, help me graduate from this school of hard knocks!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the International Christian Church (ICC) Lead Senior Pastor at Staten Island, New York, since 2011. He draws many experiences from his over 40 years as a pastor and significant emotional life experiences.
His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is getting rave reviews. His daily devotional appears in this publication.
