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Vol - 1/ no. 8                                       August 1999

From pit to Palace
By Joseph Kurian, Houston

                  A careful study of the life of most men in the Bible will tell us that almost all of them had failures. But there is one person, besides our savior Jesus Christ, we can see as an almost perfect type of Christ and that is Joseph, the son of Jacob, the overcomer.

                   It will take a whole book to fully portray the struggles, tests, tragedies and even the great triumphs of this outstanding person in the Old Testament. This young man never failed to false accusations, cared to careless criticisms or trapped by temptations. He manifested great wisdom, brotherly love and submission to the will of God. His faith was tested in so many ways, yet he never failed, nothing could wave this young man from his strong relationship with God. He was silent to false accusations and unjust punishments. He became a godly man in an ungodly culture. The constant presence of God enabled him to overcome treachery, temptation, disappointment and bitterness.

                     The qualifications of a true leader are not merely physical, but are spiritual. The key qualities of a great leader are internal, not external. Joseph rose to a position of leadership even in prison because the presence of God was with him. (Genesis 39:21). He knew God was in control of everything. In spite of all the bitter experiences, his patience towards his brothers, enemies and his accusers was unbelievable. The thing that could destroy you can become building blocks on the journey of faith as you look for the hand of God in all circumstances. When God is going to do something wonderful, he may often begin with a difficulty. As Samuel Rutherford said "Praise God for the hammer, the file and the furnace. The hammer molds us, the sharpens us and fire tempers us. Joseph experienced it all and he was ready to be used for God.

                     We may fail sometimes, be pushed to a corner, treated so poorly by others, but our faith in God will give us enough courage to be successful at the end. Failures sometimes can be back door to success. In the end the only one who fails is the one who never even try. A classic example is the life of Abraham Lincon who had failed numerous times but tried again and succeeded. He failed in business in the age of 22, defeated in legislative election at age 23, defeated for speaker at age 29, defeated for congress at age 34, defeated again for congress at age 39, defeated for senate at age 46, defeated for Vice-President at age 47, again defeated for senate at age 49. But at age 51, he was elected as the President of the United States of America. The courage, persistence and perseverance was amazing. Even though he failed so many times, he never gave up trying and finally attained the Presidency.

                            A child of God will go through different tests and trials in life but the final outcome will be victory. Our faith will be tested. Faith has always trials. The greater the faith, the greater the trials. Take away Abraham's trials and where is his faith. Faith must be tried, in order that faith may live. The greatest of all apostles, Apostle Paul suffered deeply but achieved greatly for the gospel because of his deep commitment to serve his savior. The presence of God was ever present in his life just like in the life of Joseph. Great leaders will not succumb to suffering, they will envision triumph in the tragedies. Great men of God will survive all obstacles in life because the almighty God is in control of their lives. As children of God we must be willing to forgive. Sometimes we spent weary days and sleepless nights brooding over our resentments, calculating ways to getting even, shackled by our silly-pride, unbending, unmerciful and unwilling to forgive and forget. We must be bridge-builders and peace makers. The life of Joseph teaches us that no matter how bad we are treated by others, how cruel others are, how tempted we are, we can overcome every single problem if the presence of God is with us "I will honor those who honor me and I will love those who love me."

                           The horrible hands of the devil may push you in the pit of suffering, sadness and shame, but the holy hands of the savior will lift you and place you in the place one day. Things may feel despondent just like the prophet Jeremiah. We all go through hard times but hold on to our faith. Final outcome will be glorious. "If you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?"

May God bless you.