The Greater Miracle

(February 25)

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On This Date:

1793- George Washington holds the first Cabinet meeting as President of the United States.

(…they finally settled on Square solid raised panels on wall and base doors in Oatmeal Glaze Finish…)

1919- Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline becoming the first state to levy a gasoline tax.

2006- The world’s estimated population reaches 6.5 billion.

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On the Books:

In Key West, Florida, turtle racing is prohibited.

(…this is how Michael Vick got started…)

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Facts from the other side of the island:

The first man to die during planning & construction of the Hoover Dam was the father of the last man to die during its construction. December 20, 1922, J.G. Tierney a Bureau of Reclamation employee who was part of a geological survey - drowned when he fell from a barge. Exactly 13 years later, in 1935, his son Patrick W. Tierney, fell to his death from an intake tower.

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Sad to say, but sometimes it doesn’t get better. There are people in the world who love God and yet their desperate situation just doesn’t change. There are people who have lost limbs and other Christians prayed for that limb to be restored; but answers don’t seem to come. I personally know good people who have more faith than the mustard seed of Mark 4:31 but live every day in chronic pain. Others lose the love of their life … and though they fast and pray; their heart remains broken. But that does not mean all is lost; sometimes there is the greater miracle. Stick with me … it’s today’s Fuel4theFire.

Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son. He was the Ray Barone of the family. He even received special gifts from his dad …. the technicolored dream coat for example. I can hear his brothers now, “Everybody loves Joseph.” So they were jealous and took this 17 year old boy and tossed him into a hole in the ground (Genesis 37:24) before deciding to sell him into slavery (v.2 and make a little Ill-gotten booty … or is it ill -booten gotty?

Joseph was purchased by a band of traveling merchants and after changing hands at least once more he wound up in Egypt. Meanwhile back at the farm, the rest of the Barone brothers told dad that Joseph had been killed and he mourned his loss (v.33-34).

You remember the rest of the story; if you don’t it’s a great read in Genesis 37-50. Joseph proved faithful at every turn, trusted God all along the way, was a good servant to every master he had, and to say that he bloomed where he was planted would be the understatement of a lifetime! But the answer never came like you would think.

It dawned on me the other day … as we were finishing up a study on Genesis; that Joseph never made it back home. Think about it … he is one of the few in scripture who nothing negative is written about; by every account - above reproach. Certainly an example to follow and a man we long to emulate, even if we don’t know what emulate means. But his situation never resolves itself. God never steps in and saves the day the way Joseph hoped and prayed. He is falsely accused, forgotten in prison and to top it all off - after 93 years of exile … he dies in Egypt. He did everything right … but God never stepped in and rescued him. I think I know why … it had to do with the greater miracle.

Maybe our life seems that way too. When we encounter a trial or a crisis we pray earnestly and believe for God to intervene on our behalf. And sometimes He does! But we need to be careful that we don’t miss out on the greater miracle.

For Joseph, an answer to prayer within his limited perspective would have been good for him in the moment, but his family may have starved to death in a matter of years. Not only that - but the family tree of Jesus was in serious jeopardy during this period of famine and God used Joseph’s troubles to preserve the ancestors of Jesus Himself! The greater miracle

Because of Joseph’s willingness to obey during circumstances that he couldn’t understand - God saved the lineage of Christ and untolled lives. As the end became known - he was able to see the bigger picture that God saw all along, “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? ‘ But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive’.” (Genesis 50:19-20)

“So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” (Genesis 50:26). After fifty long, grueling chapters that take us from Paradise to Egypt, a beginning in life and an end in death; the book of Genesis just seems to slam shut with this final verse. To be fair, he does eventually make it out of Egypt about 144 years later - in a box. The only coffin mentioned in Scripture contains the body of Joseph. By the way … that’s the only way we make it out too.

“And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.” (Exodus 13:19)

Life does always end with … And they lived happily ever after. If we get our way, it may satisfy us for the moment. If we get God’s way we have discovered the greater miracle. I have decided that is what I want.

That’s today’s Fuel4theFire.

And remember … I love you guys.

Tom