You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
! Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
! I'd like to start by talking with the kids up here for just a minute.
Some of them who left are coming back in right now.
Parents, if you're confused, that was my fault.
But we will send them right back where they're going.
Kids, if you want to come sit on these steps,
we're going to talk for just a minute this morning.
And then we will let our kids worship kids.
Go back out that way.
Yeah, just sit right there on the step.
Just wherever you're comfortable.
There you go.
Can everybody see me?
I'm trying something new out here.
Because there's so many of y'all sometimes that I can't see all of you.
You know, a lot of times at church we talk about happy things, don't we?
Like heaven and God's love and forgiveness.
And I do want to remind you kids today that God loves you.
All right?
Can you all see me over here?
All right?
But I want to do it in a little bit different way than we often do.
I want to ask you, can you think of something that sometimes makes you sad or scared?
Can anybody think of something that makes you sad or scared?
Go ahead.
You can just call it out.
When one of your family members gets cancer.
Okay.
So somebody that you love might get really sick.
And that's scary and sad, isn't it?
What else?
The dark.
Is anybody else scared of the dark sometimes?
I sometimes get scared in the dark.
That's a lot of us.
Okay.
What else?
That my brother, Caleb, went off to college.
Oh, do some of you have brothers and sisters that have already had to move away from home
and go to college?
That's hard, isn't it?
You miss him?
Yeah.
One more thing.
Anybody else?
Go ahead, Jared.
You got hit on the forehead and it really hurt, didn't it?
For a long time.
Has anybody else ever gotten hurt?
Maybe you get a boo-boo.
Maybe you even fall.
It just makes you sad, doesn't it?
And it's really hard.
All of those things.
There are a lot more things.
I'll let you can all talk about it later, okay?
But we're going to stop with just those examples for this morning.
Those are things that are really hard, aren't they?
You ever been left out before by friends?
It makes you feel sad.
You know the song, Jesus Loves Me?
Do y'all know that song?
How do you know that Jesus loves you in that song?
Jesus loves me, this I know, for?
The Bible tells me so.
You mean it doesn't say that everything in your life is good and easy and that's how you
know Jesus loves you?
No.
No, it says the Bible tells us that no matter what is going on in our lives, whether it's
hard or sad or scary or hurtful, that Jesus still loves us.
Isn't that amazing?
All of the time, the Bible tells us God loves those whose hearts are broken because they're
so sad.
The Bible says God loves those who are poor.
The Bible says God loves those who are scared, who are afraid, and that we can trust Him when
we are.
Isn't that wonderful?
Because sometimes we're sad, aren't we?
Sometimes we're scared.
And God still loves us.
God still loves you.
When?
All the time?
Did we sing that earlier?
All the time, God is good.
Now when you go back to your seats in just a minute, we're going to talk about a story
of someone in the Bible named Joseph.
Does anybody know about Joseph?
Joseph goes through a lot of really hard things and a lot of really sad things.
And even though he might get scared sometimes, he learns that God still loves him.
So when y'all go back to your seats, will you listen carefully about how the Bible teaches
us about that in the story of Joseph?
Can y'all listen with me?
And then those of you who are in kids' worship, y'all are going to learn too, okay?
What's the question?
Which Joseph?
This is the good question.
This is Joseph in the Old Testament, not Joseph who's Mary's husband and the father of Jesus,
okay?
Joseph in the Old Testament who has a special coat and whose brothers are not very nice
unlike yours, all right?
Let's pray and then you can go back.
Jesus, thank you so much that you love us all the time.
I thank you for these kids.
I pray when they are afraid that they will learn they can trust you.
That they will know they can turn to you and that you still love them and that the hard
things in their lives are not evidence that you've quit loving them, but that you keep
being with them.
And I pray that you will teach us that from your word, God, as we open it today.
Would you speak through it to our hearts?
We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you all so much.
If you were back there with kids' worship, you see Miss Katie waving to you, go right
back where you just were and others of you can go back to your parents if that's where
you were staying for the sermon.
Okay.
Looks like you got them all.
Excellent.
As we've started our journey through these old stories to see the big story that God's telling,
we have heard repeatedly of God's blessing, haven't we?
All the way back from the beginning when He blesses us in the greatest way possible, creating
us in His image for relationship with Him.
And then God repeats that blessing, doesn't He, to Noah after the flood.
Last week, Abraham, whom God blesses and promises to make a blessing to others, in fact, to all
nations, right?
He promises Abraham a special relationship.
He promises Abraham a promised land.
He promises Abraham a seed, a great nation that will come from him, a people through the child
of promise.
Remember?
That child of promise whom Abraham almost had to sacrifice until God sent a substitute?
Pastor Derek so helpfully opened that story up for us last week, Abraham and Isaac.
And he reminded us that God often gives us a compass rather than a GPS, right?
That we might not understand everything God is doing in our story, in our walk with Him.
Well, Isaac is the child of blessing.
His son Jacob hears that same promise, the relationship, the land, the seed.
And when we get to Jacob's family, it's not just that we have only a compass to follow.
Y'all, the compass seems shattered, broken.
What in the world is going on?
This is the family of promise.
This is the blessed family.
And Jacob's name becomes what?
Israel.
His 12 sons will more or less be the 12 tribes of Israel.
So how are things going with the blessed family?
Well, the snapshot we get in Genesis 37 is that Father Jacob Israel himself is playing favorites.
It's only getting a special gift for his one favorite son.
And then that favorite son, who's that?
Joseph.
He decides to rub it in to all his brothers.
He has dreams and he tells them about how he's better than they are.
And so they respond, maybe understandably, by deciding what?
We want nothing to do with this guy.
They plan to kill Joseph.
They throw their brother into a pit.
They sell him away.
They treat him as though he is dead.
They lie to their dad about what happened.
How's that for a blessed family?
Is that the family whose Christmas card you get and you think, man, what a blessed family.
Hashtag blessed.
That's them.
I hope this story will be an encouragement to you this morning.
If your present snapshot of your family feels anywhere distant from your expectations, hopes, dreams,
as theirs would have.
Maybe your life feels that way personally, where you hear about God's love and grace and blessing,
but you just don't see it in your life personally.
If you're honest, this doesn't feel like that at all.
There's a lot of that in this room.
Some of us are parents grieving where your kids are right now.
They're not where you long for them to be.
Others of us feel like almost every day we're at a lunch table by ourselves, so to speak.
We're alone.
Others of us are facing physical pains and struggles that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemies.
You describe them to me, and I can hardly imagine what it must be like to feel the pain you're feeling
and not know if it's going to change.
How will this play out?
Will there be relief coming?
Others of us feel the shame of divorce.
Someone said to me just last week,
Pastor, his marriage was really disintegrating before his eyes.
I guess the way I've handled the blessings that God has given me in my life,
I shouldn't expect God to bless me anymore.
You know that feeling?
For any reason?
This is not what blessed was supposed to look like.
I must have missed a turn somewhere with Jesus.
How did I get off track?
How did my life end up here?
It feels like there is just no way back to the promises of God.
The blessings, right?
Life with God.
If you have been there,
or if you are there today,
I want to tell you two things as we get started.
The first is,
I'm so sorry.
You were made to feel the full face of God
shining on you,
unhindered,
all the time,
every moment being that close to him
and knowing his full delight.
And you're feeling like the clouds are so thick
and so dark
that you can't even see him at all.
It's an awful place to be.
It's not what you were made for.
I'm sorry.
The second is this.
God wants you to know,
in the midst of that,
that he is at work.
He won't fail now.
He hasn't lost control.
He hasn't given up on you.
He is at work to rescue
and to restore
even when we can't see it.
And that is good news
because a lot of times we can't.
He's in fact weaving this beautiful tapestry,
a wonderful story
that you're a part of,
but you can only see from the backside
the knots,
the frays,
the ugly streaks
that are on the back of that tapestry.
Right now,
it's all you can see.
And God wants us to see this morning
more of who he is.
We may not see the whole picture still
of what's going on in our stories,
but if we're gonna have hope,
we have to see who he is
because he's in your story.
I wanna read to you
what Joseph tells his brothers
at the end of the story.
It's gonna help
frame the story for us.
It's in Genesis chapter 50
starting at verse 15.
I'm gonna read
just this section of God's word
even though Joseph's story
is about 14 chapters.
When Joseph's brothers
saw that their father was dead,
they said,
it may be that Joseph
will hate us
and pay us back
for all the evil
that we did to him.
Seems reasonable.
So they sent a message to Joseph.
They made this up.
Saying,
your father gave this command
before he died.
Say to Joseph,
please forgive the transgression
of your brothers
and their sin
because they did evil to you.
And now please forgive
the transgression
of the servants
of the God of your father.
And Joseph wept
when they spoke to him.
His brothers also came
and fell down before him
and said,
behold,
we are your servants.
Echoes of a dream.
But Joseph said to them,
do not fear
for am I in the place of God?
As for you,
you meant evil against me.
But God,
but God
meant it for good
to bring it about
that many people
should be kept alive
as they are today.
So do not fear.
I will provide for you
and your little ones.
Thus he comforted them
and spoke kindly
to them.
I really want us
to see two things
in this story
that I think will help us
in our chapter
of this same story.
The reality of evil
and the goodness
of God.
These verses
point us
to both of them.
First,
evil.
Evil.
Sin.
Evil.
Transgression.
Evil.
Consider the evil
done
to Joseph.
And let's call it
what it is.
Right?
I don't want to soft sell it.
We have the tendency
to miss the heart
of this story entirely
for a couple of reasons.
One is we miss
the real pain
because we love comfort,
don't we?
Anybody else
like being comfortable?
And if we're honest,
when we read this story,
sometimes when we tell it
to our kids,
Joseph seems to come out
pretty well.
Right?
Second in command
in the whole country.
All the food he wants,
all the money,
all the power,
wife and kids.
Plus,
we really like
morality tales.
It helps us get
to the point faster.
We can have
a quick takeaway.
So what we conclude
is that Joseph
was faithful,
he trusted God,
and life went great.
Now,
I'm not saying
there aren't some good lessons
to learn from Joseph.
there are,
but let me show you
what this text says
to Hebrew ears,
not American ears.
Okay?
The end of Joseph's story,
the end of the book
of Genesis,
is Joseph
was put
in a coffin
in Egypt.
That's bad.
Okay?
In case you don't
understand that,
when you,
even American ears
get that,
right?
But it's even worse
when they read it.
Joseph and his family
have been promised
the land of Canaan,
not Egypt.
Joseph even calls
Egypt later in his life
after he's risen to power
and he seems to have
everything that you
could possibly imagine
in Egypt.
He says,
Egypt is the land
of my blessing?
No.
The land of my affliction.
You don't have to remind
the original recipients
of the book of Genesis
of that reality,
do you?
What's Egypt been like
for them?
They just made it
out of Egypt
by the skin
of their teeth.
Barely alive.
They have felt
the pain
and they have,
they're the ones
who've carried
Joseph's bones
with them
as he made them
promise to do
because his hope
lay where?
Elsewhere,
not in Egypt.
So please hear me,
especially if you're
hurting right now.
The Bible does not
tell you
to deal with your pain
by saying
the evil
is good.
That's not the message.
We are going to talk
a lot about the good
this morning,
but it's not
in an effort
to say that
the bad thing
is a good thing.
You don't have
to say
to feel like
a good Christian.
It was a blessing
in disguise.
Is that what
blessings do?
Dress up?
No.
God is good.
When?
All the time.
God is good.
Not all the time
is good.
Not all the things
are good.
No.
Woe to those
who call evil
good and good
evil,
God says.
The Bible says
there are tears
in this story
that are not just
happy tears
and you don't have
to pretend
that's what it is.
It's really sad.
when a kid says
someone in my family
has cancer.
It's really bad
when somebody
abuses you.
Let me just hit
some of the
darker moments
in this story
with you.
The evil
done to Joseph.
His brothers,
the family
of promise,
the blessed
family,
attack him,
bully him,
throw him
into a pit.
Listen to the
description if it's
not bad enough
already.
When Joseph
came to his
brothers,
they stripped
him of his
robe,
that special
robe,
the robe of
many colors
that he wore,
and they took
him and threw
him into a pit.
The pit was
empty.
There was no
water in it.
This was not
a five-star pit.
They threw him
in the pit
without water.
They weren't
trying to do
him a favor.
They sell
him to
Gentiles
who take
him away
as a slave
far from
the promised
land.
Can you
imagine the
sadness as
he is dragged
away from
his parents
perhaps forever?
In Egypt,
even though
he works
hard and
he lives
faithfully,
he is falsely
accused by
his boss's
wife,
he is thrown
in prison,
and then he's
forgotten about
for multiple
years there in
prison,
even by the
people he
helps out.
When he
finally gets
out and he
comes to
power and
position in
Egypt,
even then,
Joseph has
not arrived,
right?
This is not
where he longs
to be.
He's far
away from
his beloved
father.
He's separated
from all his
family.
He's isolated
from people
who love
Yahweh.
It's the
land of
his affliction.
He longs
for home,
doesn't he?
Can you feel
some of his
pain living
on this side
of heaven?
Do you
long for
home?
This is not
some fairy tale
prince of
Egypt.
Can you
relate to
how Joseph
might have
been tempted
to believe
a lie
about God
when he
was in
that pit
without water?
When he
was in
that prison
without a
friend?
When he
was in
that land
without a
family?
When you're
in a pit,
there are
some lies
that are
easy to
believe,
but really
important to
reject.
The first
is the one
we've already
been discussing.
It's the
lie that
this,
where I
am,
means God
has removed
his blessing
from me.
And that
makes sense
to us
in our
culture
because we've
defined blessing
as comfortable
circumstances
and material
prosperity.
So to us,
the pit by
definition
means I'm
missing out
on the
blessing.
Unless we're
defining blessing
wrong.
So that
second lie
that I
sometimes
believe
is that
God
has abandoned
me.
Certainly
this wouldn't
happen to
someone God
loves,
we might
think.
Maybe God
was with my
grandfather or
my father,
but apparently
I'm on my
own here.
And yet,
the text
points out,
even in being
sold to
Egypt,
God was
with
Joseph.
But he
still got
thrown in
prison unjustly.
But even
in prison,
God was
with
Joseph.
And so it
all got
better.
No,
but he
still got
forgotten.
You see
what's
happening?
God is
with
Joseph and
things are
still going
bad.
God is
with
Joseph and
he's
still in
a pit.
And we've
got to
connect the
dot because
you don't
have to
get out
of the
pit for
God to
be with
you.
Amen?
You don't
have to get
out of the
pit for
God to be
with you.
And this
is the
blessing,
right?
Listen to
me.
Corrie ten
boom learned
this one in
one of the
lowest,
darkest pits,
Ravensbruck
concentration camp
in Germany.
It doesn't get
much lower and
darker than
that,
right?
The rejects,
the abuse,
the fleas,
the death,
and who was
there in the
midst of all
of it?
God.
She said,
God was
there.
There is no
pit so deep
that he is
not deeper
still.
We've got to
realize that in
this story.
No pit so deep
that he is not
deeper still.
That is our
God.
That's what he
wants us to
know about him.
Listen, I don't
know how far
you have fallen.
I don't know
how low you
feel, but you
have not fallen
beyond him.
underneath,
wherever you
are, are the
everlasting arms.
God is lower
than wherever you
have gone.
He has not
abandoned you.
His goodness is
running after,
running after you,
and he will
reach you.
He's there with
you.
Finally, you
might wrongly
conclude in your
pit that God
has failed to
keep his
promises.
It may be you've
misunderstood his
promises.
Happens to us a
lot.
It also may be
that you are
trusting his
promises, but you
can only see the
back of the
tapestry right
now.
So you can call
where you are
evil and still
trust him to be
good and faithful
and at work.
Let's see this
part of Joseph's
story.
What's so amazing
in this story is
how much good
God does here
in the face of
so much evil.
This story is a
case study in
what we refer to
as God's
providence.
It's his
sovereign work
to do good
no matter how
much bad
there is.
That he's in
control.
There's no
maverick molecule
in the universe.
He didn't just
create the world.
But he upholds
it and sustains
it by the word
of his power
in every moment.
God is always
working to
rescue and
restore because
he is committed
to blessing,
isn't he?
Have we learned
that about him
here?
You remember
what was going
to happen when
God blessed
Adam and Eve?
His blessing
was going to
flow through
them to all
of his good
creation, right?
And then we
came to Abraham
and he said
I'm going
to bless
you Abraham.
He promises
that all
nations will
be blessed
through Abraham.
Sometimes I
get so focused
on my own
circumstances
that I forget
God's blessing
has a bigger
scope
than I see.
So far from
removing God's
blessing from
Joseph in the
pit,
what's happening?
God's blessing
is overflowing
from Joseph.
How does he say
it to his
brothers?
To save
many lives.
It's happening
all through this
story.
See not only
is Potiphar's
house blessed
when Joseph,
the man of
God,
shows up,
not only is
the prisoners
that Joseph
interprets their
dreams,
they're blessed
when the man of
God shows up
in prison,
but also through
the wisdom of
God.
Joseph's
interpretation of
dreams,
Joseph's plans
to store grain
during the good
years.
Egypt
prospers,
the whole
nation,
and many,
many nations
are blessed,
fed,
spared,
because Joseph
is in Egypt.
When we're in
the pit,
may we have
the eyes of
faith to see
God is up to
something much
bigger than
our circumstances
so we can
actually rejoice
in blessing
overflowing to
others.
God's
But there's
more here
because if
that's all
that's going
on,
then we might
rightly be
afraid that
God might
trample on
me and
his promises
to me so
that he can
bless others
more because
he's really
like that.
He likes to
bless.
Maybe he's
going to leave
me in the
pit and others
will be
blessed.
What about
when my life
keeps being
hard?
When from
all I can
tell my
prayers aren't
being answered?
When my
life is
ending and
there's still
so much to
grieve?
That as we've
seen is
Joseph's story
isn't it?
In a coffin
in Egypt.
The promised
land is as
far away as
ever.
The promised
seed, the
great nation,
they're spared,
they're alive but
not looking so
great.
right?
Maybe
brother Judah
being less
selfish and
more sacrificial
is foreshadowing
hope.
It is.
But it's
generations away.
Those promises
that are repeated
in blessing of
the next generation
are a long
time to develop.
Regardless of
how far away
all of that
seems, God's
blessing has a
longer view
than I grasp.
grasp.
Listen to
Joseph on
his deathbed
to his
brothers who
are fearful
that their
sinfulness,
their selfishness
has messed up
this whole promise
and blessing
thing.
What does
Joseph say?
I am about
to die
but,
that's not
the end,
but God
will visit
you and
bring you up
out of this
land to the
land that he
swore to
Abraham,
to Isaac,
and to
Jacob.
He's promised.
Joseph made
the sons of
Israel swear
saying,
God will
surely visit
you and
you shall
carry up
my bones
from here.
This is
going to
happen.
I don't
know when
it is but
you're going
to carry
my bones
with you.
Someone here
I believe
needs to
hear this
today.
God's
sovereign
providence
is such
that even
after you
have died,
God will
still faithfully
work to
bring you
where he's
promised.
Even if you
don't get to
see it here,
even if his
faithfulness to
his promises
to your family
is not
something you
get to
witness or
experience,
he's faithful.
His story,
your story,
your family's
story does
not end
with what we
experience or
see in this
life.
He's just
bigger than
that.
That is how
good he is.
That's how
much you
can trust
and cling
to his
promises.
May we
have such
an eternal
perspective
of his
greatness
and his
grace to
us.
I don't
know about
you but
when I'm
really hurting
those two
truths that
we've just
talked about
can be
tough to
embrace.
what I
mean is
it can
seem a
little pie
in the
sky to
tell me
when I've
been cheated
on and
left alone
again that
it'll be
better in
the next
life.
It can
seem a
little callous
when I've
been left
out again
humiliated
publicly
constantly
battling
depression
to tell
me
someone else
is getting
blessed
through all
this.
Cheer up.
Both
true
but often
hard to
process.
In other
words I
don't want
you to
think less
than that
but I
also want
you to
hear this
third reality
that's for
all of us
even if
those two
can't come
home to
your heart
today.
I
intentionally
wrote the
third promise
differently.
God is
with you.
God is
with you
full stop.
Simple
perhaps
but this
is the
heart of
being blessed.
The Bible
tells us
this.
Remember
the blessing
promised from
the beginning
was relationship
with God.
It's what
we broke.
It's what
God is
restoring to
us.
So let me
show you
again here.
I already
showed you
this God's
presence was
what anchored
Joseph in
Egypt in
Potiphar's
house in
prison.
It's also
the only thing
that gets his
father Jacob
even to come
to Egypt.
Leaving the
promised land
was so
counterintuitive
to Jacob
that even
though it was
the only place
he could find
food in a
famine even
though his
beloved son
was there
he stopped
at the
boundary of
the promised
land and
wouldn't
leave until
God himself
showed up
personally to
tell him to
keep going.
Chapter 46
God said
I am God
the God of
your father
do not be
afraid to
go down to
Egypt for
there I will
make you into
a great nation.
I myself
will go
down with
you.
I am coming
with you
God says
to Egypt
and I will
also bring
you up again
the land
promise is
secure
because God
is going
with you
and Joseph's
hand shall
close your
eyes
the seed
promise is
secure
because God
is with
you and
so Jacob
goes
even when it
takes generations
for those
things to
happen.
So that's
the way God's
presence in
the pit works
is that you
find that you
cannot fall
so low
that he's
not there.
Remember that?
God was with
Joseph.
God was with
Joseph.
God was with
Joseph.
Psalm 139
if I lie in
the pit of
hell you are
there.
If I say
surely the
darkness will
cover me.
Well the
darkness is
light to you
God.
It can't
keep you
from me.
You see
me.
You're with
me no matter
where I go
or what I
do.
My life is
like the
famous runaway
bunny.
Many of you
know.
I can go on
a trout stream.
I can climb
up in a
mountain.
I can hide
in a garden
and mother
bunny says
I will come
to you.
I will
find you.
I will
hold you.
See it
might just
as well
stay here
and be
mine.
you start
to experience
that even
though you're
in the pit
what you
need even
more than
getting out
is him.
You need
God
with you.
If the
one who is
goodness
himself
is there
then you
have goodness
even in
your badness.
Right?
The relationship
that you were
made for
the comfort
of his love
the delight
of never
being abandoned
because you
found a
friend who
will keep
chasing
keep pursuing
and never
let you
go.
And if
that friend
is with
you
then whatever
your bad
situation
is
it can't
stay bad
forever.
If his
promise to
be with
you in
the deepest
pit
is true
then you
can count
on all of
his other
promises
too.
Then it
really is
true that
the nations
are being
blessed
through this
then it
really is
true that
eternity
will be
glorious
and we
need those
promises
and we
know they're
true because
he's with
us now.
Joseph
learns this.
Paul
experiences
this in
prison.
Ask Job
or Ruth
or Jonah
or Hannah
what it's
like to
go so
low that
you think
God will
never hear
you and
all of a
sudden you
run into
him.
He's
there.
His
goodness
running
after
me.
God
is at
work
rescuing
and
restoring
even
when we
can't
see it.
Will you
believe that
today not
just for
Joseph's
story it's
a nice
one.
Not just
in general
but in
your pit.
Will you
believe it
there?
Maybe you
say I
don't know
about all
that.
I certainly
don't feel
God is
with me.
Maybe you're
here this
morning and
you say I
don't believe
in God
at all.
So why
would I
believe that
he's with
me when
all the
evidence I
see is
to the
contrary?
Or maybe
you say
somewhere in
between I'm
just not
sure about
God but
I can tell
you this
pastor I'm
sure if
God is
there he's
not blessing
me.
No way.
This is
perhaps a
hard request
if you're
hurting this
morning but
I'm asking
you to stick
with me for
one more
step.
There's just
one more
thing to
connect the
dots if
you're
struggling
like that.
See you
can trust
that God
has not
removed his
blessing from
you.
Not against
all evidence
but because
he enters
with you
into the
pit.
to keep
his promise
to be a
God who
rescues and
restores you
to relationship
with him.
He does
that to
restore you
even when
you broke
it.
Even when
you threw
yourself into
the pit.
See Jesus
came as a
man who was
rejected by
family.
Who was
falsely
accused.
Who was
unjustly
imprisoned.
Who was
actually
killed.
He said
that he
was sent
away by
his father
by God
himself
to preserve
like Joseph
a remnant
on earth.
Many
survivors.
A great
people.
God's not
asking you
to believe
against all
evidence that
he stands
high up in
heaven somewhere
with a magic
wand to make
the evil in
your life go
away.
It's not
what he
says.
No he
has stooped.
He's shown
himself to be
with you.
He's entered
in to endure
the ultimate
evil.
The physical
emotional
social
spiritual
agony
of the
cross
even when
it wasn't
deserved
in order to
accomplish the
ultimate good
the blessing
of so many
people including
you.
Jesus
endured
evil
to end
it for
you one
day.
Won't you
trust him?
Why stay
alone in
your fear
and despair?
There is
someone whose
pit is
deeper than
yours who
stoops to
rescue you
to restore
you to
catch you.
His arms are
underneath so
you don't have
to ascend to
him.
He's come
down and his
arms are there
so you can
just fall into
them right now.
You don't have
to do anything
else.
Call evil
evil.
Tell God
it doesn't
feel like
you expected
or like
he would
have designed
in his
perfect world.
Declare as
loudly as you
want that
there is no
hope unless
he's doing
something that
you can't
see or
understand.
And then
when you do
that I want
you to hear
the drum
beat.
The drum
beat in the
background of
God's goodness.
Running
after Joseph.
Running
after Jesus.
Running
after you.
Tell him
if he's
gone to
the cross
and risen
from the
grave for
you then
all of his
promises
must be
true.
There's no
other hope.
Declare that
the eternal
God is your
refuge and
underneath no
matter how
low you go
are the
everlasting
arms.
Let's pray.
Father would
you catch
us and
hold us
and comfort
us this
morning.
There are
hard things
in this
world.
We grieve
for ourselves
for our
children
for our
city for
our country
for this
world because
it's not the
way we long
for it to be.
We read your
word and we
realize it's
not the way
you long
for it to
be and we
need hope.
We need
your help.
We need
you.
Thank you for
entering in.
Thank you for
not leaving us
alone.
Thank you for
the hope of
your presence
with us in the
pit.
Would we know
the everlasting
arms in a
fresh way this
morning and
and know
that you're
holding us
just as you've
been holding
this story
together for
generation after
generation and
century after
century and
you're taking
us home.
Give us rest
and joy in your
goodness we ask
in Jesus name.
Amen.
For more
information visit
us online at
southwood.org.
Nacho