FINALLY!
By Rev. William Dohle
I am a movie fan. A big one!
In every movie, particularly in the action movies, there's a turning point. It's the point in the film when things start "looking up" for the main character. The growing up period is over. The trials have stopped. Now the real work of "saving the world" can begin.
It happens that way in the new Amazing Spider-man Movie. Peter Parker is introduced...the lab where he'll find the spider is found...and eventually the spider bites him. Then we, as an audience, wait until he gets used to his powers and stops using them like a spoiled child. That happens after his Uncle is killed and from that point in the movie on, Spider-man starts to grow up. We breathe a quiet "FINALLY" as sit on the edge of our seat as we watch him battle the Lizard man through the end of the film.
In some movies...in many I would say...that "FINALLY!" can't happen soon enough. The opening seems to take so long. When the turnaround comes, we sigh: Finally... the story has taken its turn. Finally...the bad guy will pay for their crimes. Finally...things are looking up here and the good that has been done will finally get its just reward! Finally!!
That is the point we are at now in Joseph's story. Joseph has suffered enough. Betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, he was falsely accused by Potipher's wife and forgotten by the chief cupbearer. What more can happen to him!? When finally he comes before Pharaoh to interpret his dream, we hold our breath. "Is Joseph's trials over?" And when Pharaoh raises him up, we sigh and breathe a quiet "FINALLY!"
FINALLY Joseph is getting what he deserves. FINALLY he is coming into his own! FINALLY things will work out right for Joseph.
And they do... in large measures!
Joseph, the downtrodden, is raised up to the highest position. Second only to Pharaoh himself! He is given a new name, an Egyptian name "Zaphenath-Paneah", and given a well-bred wife. He goes about in a chariot, and "men shouted before him, 'Make way!'" He was dressed in the finest linen and had gold necklaces placed upon him. And "...Pharaoh put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt."
Talk about the comeback! Talk about exaltation. When Joseph was at his lowest, God raised him up and seated him among the highest authorities. And there. THERE beside Pharaoh, the Joseph, the son of Jacob ruled the land of Egypt, blessing those who had blessed him. What a blessed turnaround God had provided Joseph with!
So... do we experience such turnarounds? Or are they just for the movies and the stories of Scripture? Do our lives make a turnabout? Do we ever breathe a quiet "Finally!" when the good days have finally come??
I think we do...but not in the ways we would come to expect. Few of us will drop as low or raise up as high as Joseph did. But we may experience turnarounds in other ways too.
An alcoholic...gets sober.
A cancer patient...goes into remission.
A job seeker...finds employment.
A pregnant mother...gives birth to a heathy child.
A person...gets baptized!
All these are signs of turnabout. All these are opportunities to breathe a "FINALLY"...and turn a corner in life. Just like Joseph, the previous life has passed. And a new life has begun!
But still even after these turnabouts, we will experience pain and grief. Even the biggest miracle patient...still has to die!
But God has another "turnaround" in store for us then. A turnaround he describes in Jeremiah.
"I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow." (Jer. 31:13)
Our God is a God of turnarounds, both here and in the world to come. So...rejoice! Celebrate when those turnarounds come. And wait with me as we wait together for God to finally turn this whole world around. So that together we can exclaim a great big: "FINALLY, GOD!"
God of the Turnabout, you turned Joseph's life around and made him a blessing to others. Bless us too so that we can turn around and bless those around us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment