Lessons from the Pit

Last Sunday here at Gaylord E-Free we began our new message series on the life of the Old Testament character, Joseph, by looking at his severely dysfunctional family background.  What a hoot it was to hear the whole congregation singing the theme song to "The Brady Bunch" (but that's a whole other story).

This Sunday we will see how the fuse that had been burning from all of those years of a dysfunctional family reached a point of explosion as Joseph’s very own brothers attacked him, threw him in a pit, sold him into slavery, and then convinced their father that his favored son, the one they were so jealous of, had been killed by a wild animal.

My guess is that the smell from that pit his brothers angrily threw him into before selling him into slavery never really left Joseph’s nostrils.  If you have every found yourself in, “The Pit of Betrayal,” you know exactly what I am talking about.  Few wounds go deeper and few hurts last longer than those which are caused by betrayal.

Joseph is an example of this.  So, in fact, is Jesus, who also was a victim of what we might call, “The Kiss of Betrayal.”  If you have been so fortunate thus far in your life to have never experienced betrayal’s sting, you are very blessed.  However, be careful.  Chances are still good that this pit is just ahead of you as you journey on in your life.

There are many lessons that we can learn from deep within this horrible pit caused by betrayal.  And if we learn them well we can actually become a better person for being in it.  The smell of this pit may never really leaver our nostrils, but the lessons we learn from it are life-changers.  Be sure to join us this Sunday and invite someone to come with you.