Lessons for Living (Audio)

If you’re a normal human being, you’ve certainly asked yourself and/or God why it is you have to go through the trials you do. This is a perfectly reasonable question and one that God’s not afraid to hear from us. He has, in fact, given us a few answers to that question. The fallen, sinful, rebellious nature of man, for one. We don’t like that answer too much, though. Pastor Mark has been teaching about one of the other answers: as we learn to depend upon God to get us through the trials and back to a place of wholeness, we can point others in the same situation to the same answer in God.

If you’re a normal human being, you’ve certainly asked yourself and/or God why it is you have to go through the trials you do. This is a perfectly reasonable question and one that God’s not afraid to hear from us. He has, in fact, given us a few answers to that question. The fallen, sinful, rebellious nature of man, for one. We don’t like that answer too much, though. Pastor Mark has been teaching about one of the other answers: as we learn to depend upon God to get us through the trials and back to a place of wholeness, we can point others in the same situation to the same answer in God.

It’s so true, isn’t it? We can do all things through Christ…as long as we don’t have any troubles in our lives, our kids are behaving and all our bills are paid with money left over. How, then, do we explain the quality of character displayed by Joseph? Pastor Mark will be teaching us about Joseph’s secret, which we can implement in our own lives. We will learn that by trusting that God has a plan for our lives will help us cope with difficulties when they come. Joseph’s ability to forgive and allow God to help him forget his troubles enabled him to live a fruitful and joyous life.

It’s so true, isn’t it? We can do all things through Christ…as long as we don’t have any troubles in our lives, our kids are behaving and all our bills are paid with money left over. How, then, do we explain the quality of character displayed by Joseph? Pastor Mark will be teaching us about Joseph’s secret, which we can implement in our own lives. We will learn that by trusting that God has a plan for our lives will help us cope with difficulties when they come. Joseph’s ability to forgive and allow God to help him forget his troubles enabled him to live a fruitful and joyous life.

We value being in control of our lives, and we tend to guard that “right” jealously. When we give our lives to Christ, this is often one of the most difficult areas to relinquish to God. It’s also hard for us, who are used to the chaotic nature of living, to grasp the idea that God actually has a plan for our lives and can reduce or remove the feeling of bedlam in our lives. Pastor Mark is teaching about the life of Joseph. He had really awful things happen to him – sold into slavery, moved hundreds of miles from his home. Joseph succeeded because he trusted God in spite of the chaos in his life.

We value being in control of our lives, and we tend to guard that “right” jealously. When we give our lives to Christ, this is often one of the most difficult areas to relinquish to God. It’s also hard for us, who are used to the chaotic nature of living, to grasp the idea that God actually has a plan for our lives and can reduce or remove the feeling of bedlam in our lives. Pastor Mark is teaching about the life of Joseph. He had really awful things happen to him – sold into slavery, moved hundreds of miles from his home. Joseph succeeded because he trusted God in spite of the chaos in his life.

Revenge. Vengeance. Retribution. These are the attitudes that come to mind many times when we’re faced with the chance to get back at someone who did us wrong. As much as we know we shouldn’t, the urge to strike back is natural and strong. As Pastor Mark recounts the story of Joseph we find that time and again he doesn’t return evil for evil. This is, of course, a lesson for us to learn. We have to learn to rely on God’s grace and learn to forgive those who’ve hurt us. Once we do that, we will find God’s peace and comfort, as well as His blessing and favor in our lives.

Revenge. Vengeance. Retribution. These are the attitudes that come to mind many times when we’re faced with the chance to get back at someone who did us wrong. As much as we know we shouldn’t, the urge to strike back is natural and strong. As Pastor Mark recounts the story of Joseph we find that time and again he doesn’t return evil for evil. This is, of course, a lesson for us to learn. We have to learn to rely on God’s grace and learn to forgive those who’ve hurt us. Once we do that, we will find God’s peace and comfort, as well as His blessing and favor in our lives.

As unpleasant as it might be, the truth is that much of our unhappiness is because we have made a decision to be unhappy. Choosing to hang on to hurts done to us, to refuse to forgive those who have wronged us, results in our remaining unhappy and becoming bitter. As Pastor Mark shares the story of Joseph and teaches about his ability to forgive those who did him wrong and, with God’s help, to forget the pain of those events, we need to internalize the lessons from this story. God is waiting to give us the peace we long for and the rest in our soul, but we have got to learn to forgive and forget.

As unpleasant as it might be, the truth is that much of our unhappiness is because we have made a decision to be unhappy. Choosing to hang on to hurts done to us, to refuse to forgive those who have wronged us, results in our remaining unhappy and becoming bitter. As Pastor Mark shares the story of Joseph and teaches about his ability to forgive those who did him wrong and, with God’s help, to forget the pain of those events, we need to internalize the lessons from this story. God is waiting to give us the peace we long for and the rest in our soul, but we have got to learn to forgive and forget.