Live Sent
The story of Joseph in the bible is fascinating to me. You have this arrogant teenage boy who pridefully shares his dreams of how he will one day rule over his father and brothers and they will bow down to him. Understandably they become irritated, but they then react with extreme measures throwing him into a pit and eventually selling him to a life of slavery. Joseph travels from the pit to Potiphar’s house as a servant, then to a prison after he is wrongfully accused, and then eventually to the palace to lead the Egyptian nation. Years and years go by where Joseph is treated horribly, and through the book of Genesis we watch as the teenage boy is humbled while his wisdom and trust in the Lord rises to the surface.
(If you’ve never read through Joseph’s story before, check out Genesis 37-50 – with all the highs and lows, I assure you it’s better than anything you could find on TV!)
This past week, in my morning quiet time I was reading through Psalm 105 and something caught my eye I hadn’t noticed before. In verse 16 David begins recounting the story of Joseph and the way he begins the story is captivating. In verse 17 it says “and he sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave.” He SENT a man. All of Joseph’s suffering, all of the hardships he experienced, everything he encountered that refined him during these 13 chapters of Genesis all occurred while he was living SENT.
Sometimes I think we buy into the belief that when we live right within God’s purpose and plan for our lives we will be protected from the hard things in life. Can I share some truth with you this morning? That’s never actually ever promised in scripture. Jesus didn’t ever promise us that life would be easy, or that He would protect us and save us from experiencing hard things. In fact, sometimes, I believe, that he uses these hard times, these refining times, these crushing times, to mold us and make us into the leader he wants us to be.
He’s calling us to LIVE SENT and sometimes when we choose to step out and run toward the things He has called us toward, life will get really difficult. Sometimes when we choose to obey God with everything we are, things will get harder not easier. Sometimes when we chase after Jesus with everything we have we will face disappointment after disappointment, and in the middle of our frustration all we will have to rely on is the fact that He goes with us.
But travel with me to the story of Joseph in Genesis 45:5. Joseph has already experienced all of these tragic things and he is living out the dream he had as a young teenage boy -- his brothers are now bowing before him, begging for their lives. That’s when he looks to hem in verse 5 and says, “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save live that God SENT me ahead of you…But God SENT me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who SENT me here, but God.”
Even after he went through everything he had, Joseph was able to look at the people who began all of the terror he had experienced, and tell them, “It wasn’t you who did this. God SENT me here.”
That’s what it means to really LIVE SENT. It means that we focus our eyes on Jesus in the midst of whatever is going on in our lives. It means that we look for His purpose and His plan even when things get really tough. Sweet friend – let me encourage you. Don’t shy away from the hard, or the difficult, finding yourself frustrated and buying into the belief that God has forgotten you. Don’t run away when things get tough. Lean into Jesus and trust that if He’s sent you here, he’s done it with great purpose. LIVING SENT is never easy, but it is always worth it.