When Perfect Endings Elude
Life treated Jacob very well. His favorite son, Joseph, flourished in every way. Jacob thoroughly enjoyed watching his son become a man. The future looked very bright; Jacob anticipated a perfect ending to life’s story for Joseph.
But things didn’t turn out very well. Jacob’s other sons presented physical evidence that a wild animal had killed Joseph. After assuming that Joseph was dead, Jacob fell into great depression. “All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted,” Genesis 37:35. …
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Mountainous waves crashed down upon the vessel carrying the Apostle Paul to Rome. Walls of green Mediterranean water swept the tiny craft from stem to stern. The little ship shuddered and vibrated as hurricane force wind and furious waves pounded its decks and sides.
A nation of ex-slaves defiantly marched out of Egyptian control. The entire Hebrew nation looked forward to entering the land promised to their forefathers. But the Lord told the Israelites to turn back and encamp near the Red Sea.
God can’t take his eyes off you.
Humans hold just about every conceivable type of expectation in their hearts. They dream, aspire, imagine and project future goals and desires. However, not all expectations will be fulfilled – not even for Christians! Let me suggest three steps you can take when expectations go unfulfilled. …
In 2oo3, Delores and I decided to explore the possibility of returning to Japan as pastors of Tsukuba International Christian Assembly in Tsukba, Japan. We flew to Tokyo and the missionary picked us up in his vehicle and we drove two or three hours to Tsukuba. We spent three weeks there preaching every Sunday and visiting the people of this international congregation. At the end of three weeks we told the current pastor that we would be willing to move to Japan in December 2003. …
Delores and I always wanted to serve as missionaries. We planned on going to the mission field early in our career, but that didn’t work out. So, after pastoring eighteen years, we decided to move to Singapore, Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the missions department had earlier turned down our application to serve as missionaries because of my legal blindness. Well, we decided that we had to go to the mission field because we were in our early 40’s. We couldn’t wait any longer. …
Joseph definitely did not want to be where he was. At best, an ancient Egyptian prison offered none of the comforts of home. Excessive heat, rodents, insects, and grumpy prisoners made life less than enjoyable. Joseph’s memories of past pleasantness occasionally danced around in his meditation. Life felt like an endurance contest. …
