A Beautiful Storm

This morning I was reading in Genesis about one of my favorite...I almost want to say my very favorite Bible character Joseph. Joseph ALWAYS amazes me. He stands above the crowd. Trials are his life and they press out of him purity, faith and compassion. A few days ago I read about how he resisted the temptation to sleep with Potiphar's wife though she asked him "day after day" (Gen 39:10). What was the result in his character? Purity. What happened when she lied and said he raped her? Imprisonment. My response? Amazing. But today I think I was even more amazed. Although I've read this many times I feel like I am walking around today with words and phrases swimming around in my mind like "wow" "amazing" "I can't believe it" "how is that possible". Anyway, Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery and God blesses Him and to make a long story short he ends up ruling Egypt and God has revealed to him of a famine to come. He stores up food and makes all necessary preparations for everyone to survive. His brothers come to get food for their family. So much pain and devastation has Joseph's father bared at the news of Joseph's death. A lie the brothers crafted. Here are his brothers coming to him for food to survive. The brothers that hated him...and would have killed him had it not been for Reuben, the eldest. When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers he says "And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life....Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God"(Gen. 45:5, 8). What did I write next to each one of those verses? WOW. That's all I can think. Maybe I'm in lala land today but do you ever just put yourself in the character's position? Do you try to imagine what they felt? All I know is God does supernatural things INSIDE us and that has been amazing me more recently than what He does in the physical realm. God parted the Red Sea...of course He can. And it IS a miracle. But with tears in my eyes I say GOD is doing a miracle inside of us daily. I was thinking last night of how much He has changed me. Things I used to think and do...that I always thought would be a part of me. Struggles and fears. Now I most definitely have struggles and fears but...HE HAS FREED ME! I literally do not think the same. I am at peace. God is REAL. He speaks to me. He shows Himself STRONG. He is alive. When I seek Him I find Him. I am in LOVE. Are you? I pray you are. We are in such DESPERATE need for intimacy and love. God made us that way. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband but when it all boils down to it you know why I love him? God. You know what I love about him? God. God in him and God in me is why we can love each other the way we do. We do not meet each other's need for love in any stretch of the imagination. God does. We are in love with God. And Joseph must have been in love with God too. There is no way his life would show what it showed through all the trials had he not been in love with his God. I remember Billy said something very insightful when we were on our honeymoon. We were on a cruise ship and we were standing on the front deck. There was a storm in the distance we were admiring and we were commenting on how beautiful it was. He said, "You know that's how it's supposed to be when the world looks at the life of a believer going through a trial. The world should look on and say...'That's beautiful.'"