WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Bring your worries, anxieties and problems to God ‘because he cares for you’ (1 Peter 5:7) and it’s the only really effective way of dealing with the stuff that weighs us down.

Honouring God
Joseph has a lot to teach us. He models a truly fantastic work ethic and attitude to life. Here, in a foreign country and after the traumatic events we read of yesterday, Joseph doesn’t grumble or grow bitter, despite the further serious ups and downs of today’s passage.

Instead he gets stuck into doing his best wherever he is. Clearly hardworking and trustworthy (vs 4,22), he honours God in all he does, and ‘the LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered’ (v 2; also vs 5,21,23).

Facing trials
When we are faced with difficulties and disappointments, we can often be tempted to think God has abandoned us. Joseph could have taken this view when he does the right thing for the right reasons in verses 8–12 and yet is unjustly accused of wrongdoing. He ends up in prison, yet he doesn’t reject God or sink into self-pity.

This inspiring account of how Joseph lives out his faith in the face of trials and testing reminds us that God can use us – and bless us – even when life feels unfair or tough.

Respond: Are there attitudes of bitterness or grumbling in your life that you need to address? Maybe your plans and dreams aren’t materialising, and you need to submit them again to God and his ways.

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-10-10