Handling Life's Curve Balls Series

Do whatever it takes to keep bitter from rising up in the midst of life’s curve balls.

3). Don’t rule out the reality that God has a greater purpose to what you have experienced.

Genesis 45:5 “Don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. These two years of famine will grow to seven, during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God has sent me here to keep you and your families alive so that you will become a great nation. Yes, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he has made me a counselor to Pharoah—manager of his entire household and ruler over all Egypt. (NLT)

Now, it is important for us to understand something here. God never puts a stamp of approval on evil and sin. It was wrong for Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery and lie to their father that he was dead. But, as Joseph looks back on his life he sees how it was no accident that he is where he is. Even in the midst of all that was going on in his life—God used it for the good. As a matter of fact he used Joseph’s life to save many other lives. Before you give up on God you need to realize that he is in the process of bringing out great possibilities through your experiences.

Many times we wont know what God wants to do in our life’s situations until after the fact. In other words, someone might be throwing a curve ball at you and you really don’t know how God is going to use that. So many times it’s not until we are through with the pain and through with that experience do we look back and see how God used that.

For example, let’s take the events of the last few weeks. Max Lucado summed it up for us this way:

ILLUSTRATION: Four thousand gathered for mid-day prayer in a downtown cathedral.

A New York City church, filled and emptied six times last Tuesday. The

owner of a Manhattan tennis shoe store threw open his doors and gave running

shoes to those fleeing the towers. People stood in lines to give blood, in

hospitals to treat the sick, in sanctuaries to pray for the wounded. America was different this week. We wept for people we did not know. We sent money to families we’ve never seen. Talk-show hosts read Scriptures, journalists printed prayers. Our focus shifted from fashion hemlines and box scores to orphans and widows and the future of the world. We were different this week. Republicans stood next to Democrats. Catholics prayed with Jews. Skin color was covered by the ash of burning towers. This is a different country than it was a week ago. We’re not as self-centered as we were. We’re not as self-reliant as we were. Hands are out. Knees are bent. This is not normal. And I have to ask the question, "Do we want to go back to normal?" Are we being given a glimpse of a new way of life? Are we, as a nation, being reminded that the enemy is not each other and the power is not in ourselves and the future is not in our bank accounts? Could this unselfish prayerfulness be the way God intended for us to live all along? Maybe this, in his eyes, is the way we are called to live. And perhaps the best response to this tragedy is to refuse to go back to normal. Perhaps the best response is to follow the example of Tom Burnet. He