When Time Stands Still

No joking, that was Rodlie Ortiz’s sermon title today at the Pioneer Memorial Church. I’ve been blogging a bit about “time,” but Rodlie’s “time standing still” did not refer to the blessing of quiet times of reflection; quite the opposite! but a blessing nonetheless. Ortiz spoke about the trials that Joseph went through, not minimizing Joseph’s tattletale behaviors and his indiscrete trumpeting of the two dreams predicting his future greatness. But Ortiz’s focus was on those times “when time stands still” for you, like when you’ve heard the cancer tests have come back positive, when you open the note saying your loved one is not coming back, your application has been denied, etc.

He looked particularly at the humiliation Joseph suffered when he was thrown in the pit knowing that his brothers would rather have killed him, being sold as a slave, being falsely accused by Potifer’s wife, and jailed with no hope of parole. When time stands still for us and it seems that there is no hope left, it is human to ask God “Why?!” or to angrily deny there is a God. Fortunately, Joseph did neither.

The line Ortiz repeated many times was “Trials are not an indication of God’s absence, but a preparation for a greater purpose.” He said that often in the trials we can see no reason for them. Rather, it’s like being in an earthquake; all we can do is cling to the walls and hold on. So Ortiz encouraged those in trials, “Hold on. He is clearing away the things you have relied on—your wit, your intelligence, your cuteness—whatever it is, He is making it not work so you can learn to set it aside and grasp what He is needing you to learn.”

Apparently Joseph’s youthful pride is eradicated as his favored status is totally removed. But like Job, Joseph moves closer to God. He surrenders his pride, but not his faith. When he successfully interprets the dreams he says that interpretations belong to God, and when his brothers grovel at his feet asking forgiveness, Joseph says, “It was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” It’s a different, incredibly more stable and mature Joseph; someone fit for the divine calling to save life—farm boy turned royal.

I want to be like that. Ready to let God strip away anything I have begun to count on that isn’t Him. It reminds me of Blackaby’s Challenge last Sabbath. Between these two Sabbaths I have had to face my difficulty in letting go of an objective. Is that all I need to learn? Hmm… Not sure.