This issue of The Reminder is a little different. The inside pages are dedicated to the wonderful achievement of four of our young ladies on the occasion of their high school graduation. We ought not to think that this has happened easily for them, in that, so many of the rites of being seniors have passed them by and have been canceled due to the virus. One last normal school day, one last year at camp, one last goodbye to valued teachers and friends…all of these we might not notice, but they have! Here are three life lessons for our senior ladies that they (we also) would do well to remember:
You often cannot choose the difficulties you face, but you can always choose how you face them. Joseph was a young man who was hated by his brothers, so much so, that they threw him into a pit, later sold him into slavery, and made his dad believe he was torn apart by an animal—all in a very short span (Gen. 37:20-36). This might have been a low point for Joseph, but things kept getting worse over the next several years (Gen. 39-40). Yet, Joseph was a person who put his trust in the promises of God in the easy times and in the hard times. If we can learn to say, “It is well with my soul because I trust in God,” then we’ve got an attitude that will help us ride out both the expected (and unexpected) storms of life (James 1:2-ff).
God remains faithful. Throughout Joseph’s difficulty, there occurs a theme, “the LORD was with Joseph…” (see Gen. 39:2, 5, 21, 23). God didn’t at any time abandon Joseph even though his situation was not what he would have chosen for himself. Most of our seniors thought they’d be coming back to school after Spring Break and have a normal school finish, normal summer, and normally go off to school in the fall, yet, all of that, though unchosen, doesn’t mean that God is not faithful. It just gives us reason to hold to the one who holds the future in His hands and to remember that He remains faithful to us (2 Tim. 2:11-13).
Go bless the world by faithfully following God. Joseph became a blessing to the whole world through his difficulty (Gen. 41:56-57). Joseph, through his trials, also became a blessing to his family who had treated him so poorly (Gen. 50:10-21). The reason why Joseph was able to bless the world and his family is that he came through the trials put in his way by quiet perseverance (Gen. 41:51-52; Is. 40:31). Your world may be blessed by your attitude seen on the other side of your difficulties because of you clinging to the Lord. How much different can you change your environment and attitudes around you because of your faith in God? It depends on how much you’ve let your faith in God change you first!
May God richly bless you graduates as you close this chapter of your lives and begin a new! Your Graeber Road family loves you! Now go bless and change the world by being a faithful Christian.
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