Dispelling the Myth

Sunday Night Recap
The O.T. Part XVI
Genesis 37-45

Have you ever heard that:

*The nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie" is a coded reference to the black plague?
*Rat urine is toxic to humans?
*Penguins fall over on their backs trying to see airplanes flying overhead?
*Mr. Ed was a horse?
*Bubble Yum chewing gum contains spider eggs?
*Eating trukey makes people especially sleepy?
*Your stomach will explode if you mix pop-rocks & soda?
*Gum takes 7 years to pass through your digestive system?
*Toilets flush clockwise in the northern hemisphere & counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere?

These are all common myths or urban legends (and there are a ton more...you can check them out at www.snopes.com)

And no matter how strongly you may believe they are true, they are actually all false!

There is also one myth that is associated with Chrsitianity that needs to be dispelled. Have you ever heard someone say, "just accept Christ and all your troubles will go away. Your life will be perfect." Is that true or false? How do you know its false? If you are a believer in Christ, you know that you still have bad days and suffer through tough situations. Our lives aren't perfect. People still die around us, people still hate us for who we are and what we stand for, we still get sick, we still get bad grades sometimes, we still lose basketball games, so life is not perfect.

But do you know what is perfect? God! Despite what we go through, we can have the confidence that God is still in control, even in the tough times. But what is our responsibility in those tough times?

OUR RESPONSE!

How do you respond during the tough situations of life? Do you respond with trust and confidence that God knows what he's doing? Do you respond with joy, peace, and hope or anxiety, worry, and despair?

As you read Genesis 37-45 you will see the story of a man named Joseph who faced hatred by his brothers, enslavement, false imprisonment, being forgotten about and the threat of famine. But, how did he respond? Through all of this, he still realized that God was with him, and at the end of it all, his words were these:

"And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; FOR GOD sent me bofere you to preserve life...AND GOD sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance." Genesis 45:5, 7

What is your attitude, your response in the wake of the struggles that come into everybody's lives? Are you responding with trust that God isn't surprised by what's going on and that He still has everything under control?

Think about this: What if Joseph's response had been different?