Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. 1 Thessalonians 1:5.

Because you have kept My command to persevere…Revelation 3:10. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Job 13:15. This is eternal life, that they may know You…John 17:3.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Genesis 50:20.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 24: Christ is our Passover. Exodus 12:21-27: Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.” And the people bowed low and worshiped. And, 1 Corinthians 5:7: Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

This morning in our Friday Zoom Retreat, we listened to a video by John Ortberg who talked about Joseph, which the third Scripture verse above referenced. He brought it to a close personal level by talking about how Joseph was the favorite son of his father Jacob, and the conflicts and envy that produced in Jacob’s other sons who were not “the favorite”. And how later in the story of Joseph, Benjamin became the favorite son of Jacob all because both Joseph and Benjamin were his sons with his favorite wife, Rachel. So much favoritism bringing so much harm. Later in our discussion after the video we talked about how we see so narrowly through our own life experiences that affect us. Each person has their own life experiences magnified like a projection we filter everything through. And my favorite part of the video? When Ortberg quoted the word “meanwhile”. Joseph’s own brothers grew to hate him because of their jealousy because of their father’s actions in favoring him. He was sold by his own brothers into slavery instead of outright killed, and we can scarcely comprehend that. But…in the meanwhile…for 22 years God was working in the background of Joseph’s life and later in the lives of his brothers to bring a reconciliation none of them could have expected. We live in the reality projected in our own thoughts from our lived experiences good and bad. We all do. Our reality seems so big to us but in truth is only a narrow part of our story. Our lives are our complete journey. And Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, sees every single one of us in full. I can’t see myself clearly so how can I see anyone else clearly? But we are fully known by God. And in the meanwhile we cannot possibly yet see being unfolded, God is working for us always. There are moments when we can sense His presence. Imagine talking with Him about everything that bothers you, that holds you back from living life fully. You can! As you talk with Him in prayer, just you and Him, you will find the bond He created to be, Spirit to spirit. You will encounter His love and the peace that flows from Him to you. Every problem, every need, every joy is better as we share them with Him. He is fully in the meanwhile we cannot see, working in the present trial or discouragement or lostness. This is eternal life – that they may know You- the only true God – and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. As I live and see the events in our world today becoming so strange and alarming, just as surely as the events in individual lives are becoming so strange and alarming, I am so thankful that I am reading about these events from so long ago where God was working for good they couldn’t yet see. Because I can remember my own life and the the love He is showing me now and has shown all through my life; I see the meanwhile as I look back. But we need to want to remember instead of blithely going about our lives as though they have meaning without God. I pray you seek Him in your present moments good and bad, and trust Him for all the work in the meanwhile He knows is needed for good for all of us.