Colorado is a land of majesty and beauty, but also a harsh, rugged, and formidable landscape.
In the early settlement days, the rugged terrain and the harsh winters were so brutal and unforgiving that even imagining the possibility of a mile high city rising up from the Rocky Mountain foothills must have made those settlers chuckle and shake their heads in disbelief.
160 years later, the Colorado landscape is still a wild and unpredictable force of nature, but an equally magnificent city called Denver has sprung up on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
And for all of us who live here, it is just as beautiful and engaging as the wildlife that surrounds it. From the Wells Fargo Building to Union Station to the Denver Art Museum to the State Capitol Building, who would have thought that the little mining town of Denver would become such a vibrant city?
Sometimes life doesn’t turn out like you expect. I’ve found this to be true not only in the stories of friends, family, people I meet wherever we travel, but also in my own life. I’ve struggled with issues in every category—from finances to faith to physical ailments—that have left me wondering, “Where are you God?”
I think it’s a question all of us wrestle with at some point in our lives. Sometimes it’s the death and suffering of a loved one. Other times it’s the personal crisis we face. But sooner or later we can’t help but wonder, “God, where are you?”
If anyone had reason to struggle with the question, it was Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob.
Every step of his life, Joseph was justified in asking, “Where are you God?” and “Do you even care?”
Yet it was through the difficult journey that Joseph discovered God was with him every step of the way. It’s through all of these heart wrenching and unexplainable situations that bring Joseph to the place where he can rescue his family, those whose descendants will become the 12 tribes of Israel.
Joseph’s story reminds me that no matter what God takes us through, He is still present.
Though there are times we look at life and circumstances and throw our hands up in the air, wondering, “Where are you God?”
Make no mistake.
He is there both in the palaces and in the prisons, in the years of feast and the years of famine.
Sometimes life doesn’t turn out like you expect, and the story of Joseph reminds us that sometimes, that’s a good thing!
Just like for Joseph, sometimes waiting on the promises of God requires years of waiting and hardship, but we must remember that God is with us every step of the way.
