Darlene Rose

From 2008:

I heard the sound of a familiar recording this morning, as it briefly moved past my thoughts.  Although it no longer plays moment by moment, I hear it from time to time and must hit “Delete”.   

This morning, however, I heard this familiar recording, although it wasn’t coming from within.  It was from the Lord for the purpose of understanding.  

It was the sound of my complaint growing up
“I am (this way) BECAUSE so and so did (this to me)”  

We say things like “I get angry easily BECAUSE my ex did _________”  
Or “I fix people’s lives BECAUSE I was neglected as a child and had to learn to fix everyone.”      
Or “I have such a habit BECAUSE it was all I knew to do growing up.”   

 I looked at Jacob’s journey and thought about how he left his father Isaac’s household BECAUSE Isaac told him it was time to go and take a wife, make a life for himself.  

But fast forward THIS tape and see his son Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers.  

See Joseph lied about by Potiphar’s wife.

See Joseph spend a few years in the dungeon (not modern jail cells, but a dungeon).     

This would not have happened if Jacob just let Esau have his birthright blessing, right?   

This would not have happened had Jacob stayed with Isaac, right? 

In fact, NONE of the above would have happened had Adam not taken a bite of the fruit that the woman God gave him, gave him to eat.  

What was Joseph’s perspective?

Genesis 45: 4,5 And Joseph said to his brothers, “come near to me, I pray you”.
And they did so. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt!   

“But now, do not be distressed and disheartened or vexed and angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life”.

Mary to Jesus regarding Lazarus:

“Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died” (John 11:32) (translation: “Lord my brother died BECAUSE you were not here.”)

“Did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”  (John 11:40)      

 The Pharisees to Caiaphas regarding Jesus:

“If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”  But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”

  (John 11:48-50)

Caiaphas did not know that his words prophesied the death and resurrection of Christ.

Regarding the woman who poured ointment upon the Lord’s feet, in Matthew 26, Jesus says “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.”

Did she purpose herself to prepare for Jesus’ burial or were her actions ordained by God?  

The Lord is looking for a people who trust that their everyday lives are serving His Purposes rather than blaming the chains of the past or random events.  He wants His own to agree with His word and trust His Guiding Hand.    

“Did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”    (John 11:40)

Isaiah 11:2,3 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him–the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord–     And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears.
 

This is Truth.  

The tape that keeps playing in your head is not.