I Got Donald Trumped

“Your position is no longer needed with this company.”

            With those words my professional and personal life was dramatically altered. A place where I had worked for seven and a half years was now telling me I would need to find another job. I would receive a severance payment and then I would be on my way. Immediately I was overcome with questions. “How would I provide for my family?” “What will I do with myself?” “Am I going to make it?” “How will I pay for my house payment?” “What do I do if one of my kids gets really sick?”

            We all face moments of upheaval and confusion, where we feel tossed and turned by the turmoil of life. At those moments in life where our world seems upside down, where do we find comfort? How do we make sense of the disorder we experience?

            As I was leaving the office after receiving the news, one of my soon to be former co-workers, concerned about my well being, said, “Everything happens for a reason”. In kindness she was attempting to provide me with some comfort. But was her kindness misplaced? We are used to utilizing such phrases like this. “Everything will work out”. “Things happen for a reason”. “God never closes a door without opening a window”, and so forth. We throw out these phrases casually, shooting them from the hip like some cowboy in the Wild West. We mean well, but we really don’t know what we mean.

            Will things really work out for the best? What if they don’t? Sometimes things don’t work out. Sometimes things get worse. The person that gets cancer doesn’t always go through a treatment experience leading to a prolonged life. The woman who goes through a divorce may not have an easier time with trying to raise 2 children on her own and pay the bills.

            Does everything happen for a reason? Maybe so. Then again, maybe not. And even if it does happen for a reason, what help is it to men if they don’t know the reason why? Should a person in crisis trust themselves to the nebulous ways of Fate whose nature or character cannot be known? Would you tell a child whose mother had just been killed by a drunk driver that her death happened for a reason?

            Trusting in phrases, ideas, and the character of the universe is only artificial help to the man or woman in pain. It’s vague, uncertain, and unhelpful. Those souls who dispense such advice are well intentioned, to be sure, but ultimately, such advice is hollow.

            So where then does a person find hope in life when crises come? What does a person rest in while tossed to and fro by the storms of life?

            Joseph was one of the sons of Jacob, whose life is recorded in the Bible in the Old Testament book of Genesis, in chapters 37-50. Looking at his life, struggles, and hope can provide lessons for us all. He was a man who experienced great turmoil in his life. He experienced jealousy and mistreatment those closest to him, false accusations from his enemies, imprisonment for crimes he did not commit, separation from his loved ones, and was forgotten by those he had helped save. It took over 20 years for Joseph to see any fruit of his character and good deeds. He was, for the greater part of his life, utterly forsaken and mistreated. He could say, with the blues singers of old, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all”. How did he respond? What did he find comfort in amongst the struggles he experienced?

             In Genesis chapter 39, a phrase is repeated over and over again commenting on Joseph’s life. “The Lord was with him”. Joseph was experiencing injustice, difficulty and mistreatment, but rested in the fact that God was with him. This didn’t mean his circumstances would be easy, (in fact they got worse). God being with him didn’t mean things would work out for the best, because his life didn’t work out in any positive way for years. What it did mean was God, who is wise, good, and loving, was with him in the troubles he faced and ultimately was working things for his good purposes. God was not surprised or frustrated by the evil that came into Joseph’s life. God was good and Joseph could rest in the “withness” of the Lord.

            Later, at the end of Joseph’s life, his brothers, who had sold him into slavery when he was very young, came to him to reconcile with Joseph for the evil they had done to him. Joseph’s response reflects his hope and rest in the character of God, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today,” (Genesis 50:20). Joseph was able to look back on his life and recognize that God was with him and he had been working through even the evil actions of men to accomplish his good purposes.

What can be learned from Joseph’s life? Hope is found in God. Hope is not found in the character of Fate, in the wishful thinking that tomorrow will be a better day, but in the character of God. We remember that He is good. We remember that he loves men and women. We remember that He stepped into this broken world, as a man, and exposed himself to the sin and evil this world had to offer. In Jesus, God took on the sin of the world in order that he might grant men forgiveness for their evil. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ,” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christians believe their hope is found in a God who is there, who is good, and who embraced sin for mankind that they might be saved. This doesn’t mean we will have an easy or good life where we are not touched by things like cancer, job loss, or pain. It does mean we can entrust ourselves to our God and Savior because he is good, loving, and wise.