Pastor Thoughts - OCTOBER 2021

October 2021

A Thought from Pastor Bryson,

We live in very chaotic and troubling times. Of course, there is a lot of beauty that surrounds us, but the reality of the problems of life threaten to rob us of the many blessings that we have in life. What are we to do? How are we to strike a healthy balance?

For myself I strive to count my blessings every day. We have many choices in life, and I choose to keep myself close to God, for ultimately God is the source of my strength, joy, and peace. I also read books that are encouraging and inspirational. My favorite author, Max Lucado, wrote a book entitled – You’ll Get Through This.

The book is centered around the life of Joseph and his struggles (Genesis 30-50). Yet, God saw him through. Below is an excerpt from the inside cover of the book that I hope will encourage you as you make your journey through this life:

[Joseph’s pit came in the form of a cistern. Yours came in the in the form of a diagnosis, a foster home, or a traumatic injury. Joseph was thrown in a hole and despised. And you? Thrown into an unemployment line and forgotten, into a divorce and betrayed, into a bed and abused. The pit. Life is reduced to one quest: to get out and never get hurt again. Not simply done. Pits have no easy exit.

Joseph’s story got worse before it got better. Abandonment led to enslavement, entrapment, and imprisonment… Yet, he never gave up. Bitterness never staked its claim. Anger never metastasized into hatred. His heart never hardened; resolve never vanished. He not only survived; he thrived. By the end of his life, Joseph was the second most powerful man of his generation.

His life offers this lesson: in God’s hands, intended evil becomes ultimate good. Joseph would be the first to tell you, life in the pit stinks. Yet, for all its rottenness, doesn’t the pit do this much? It forces you to look upward. Someone from up there must come down here and give you a hand. God did for Joseph. And at the right time, and in the right way, He will do the same for you.]

Throughout the book, Max Lucado repeats this phrase:

You’ll get through this.

It won’t be painless.

It won’t be quick.

But God will use this mess for good.

Don’t be foolish or naïve.

But don’t despair either.

With God’s help, you’ll get through this.