What is 2022 going to be like

A look at what is coming and how we can prepare for it.

Humor

There are two muffins baking in the oven. One muffin says to the other, “Phew, is it getting hot in here or is it just me?” The other muffin says, “AAAAHHH!! A TALKING MUFFIN!”

Why shouldn’t you write with a broken pencil? Because it’s pointless.

If athletes get athlete’s foot, what do elves get? Mistle-toes.

Why do seagulls fly over the sea? Because if they flew over a bay, they would be bagels.

Why do bees have sticky hair? Because they use honeycombs.

Two windmills are standing on a wind farm. One asks, ‘What’s your favorite kind of music?’

The other replies, ‘I’m a big metal fan.’

What do you get from a pampered cow?

Spoiled milk.

Its good to laugh.

sometimes that’s all you can do!

The spring of 2020 changed the world.

now as we enter 2022 and we are told things are getting worse again.

Our provincial leaders have tried their best. but its obvious they are coming up short.

As of December 28:

89.2% of Albertans over 12 have had their first dose

85.2% are fully vaxed

Yet we still have to do all the same things we did before the vaccnine existed.

however the virus isn’t the biggest threat to our society.

Canadian expert's research finds lockdown harms are 10 times greater than benefits

This article is almost a year old, and lockdowns are still going on.

Sure as a society we can survive it, but what about 3rd world countries.

Food insecurity 82-132 million

severe poverty 70 million

maternal-under 5 mortality from interupted healthcare 1.7 million

infectious disease deaths from interupted services -Millions

school closures in 3rd world countries will set back communities a generation

interupted vax campaings for millions of children

domestic abuse

Substance abuse

Yes we can see the results here, but it far worse in many countries

In Canada its estimated 200k small business closed and will not reopen.

in June of 2021 56K business closed permnently

22% of Alberta business are in danger of closing.

Outreach magzine reports 1 in 5 churches closed and will not reopen

Its estmated that 9000 churches in Canada will close before things return to a new normal

According to Barna. 29% of pastors were seriously considering a career change in the last year.

and 2/3rds of Christians have stopped attending church either in person or online without plans to reattend.

Even if Covid just disappeared today. There is a very long rebuilding process.

We can all say we’ve experienced a crisis in your life?

Being mistreated by someone? You got a raw deal? Stuck in the “life’s not fair” narrative? Life just keeps knocking you down? Or fill in the blank________!

I have walked through hardships and many tough circumstances.

I completely understand that walking through any of these is not fun, but there is a nugget that most of us never pick up through these difficult times.

You will quickly discover how real your relationship with Jesus Christ is in the midst of these tough places.

Your response to any of the trials that life throws at you will reveal what’s really inside of you and it will reveal the depth of your relationship with Jesus!

If you don’t think you need church anymore, it tells me a bunch about where your relationship with Jesus is

When we step into one of these narratives we have choices;

we can trust our circumstance to the Lord or deal with them in our own strength and probably crash and burn.

We all have dreams but often the reality of our life doesn’t line up with the picture we’ve painted in our minds, right?

Let’s take a deeper dive by stepping into the story of Joseph, the Old Testament guy.

Let’s pick up his story in Genesis 37.

Joseph was seventeen years old, he was a shepherd and he was the favorite son of Jacob.

Remember the coat of many colors that Jacob made for him? Joseph is living the dream.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Josepeh

In the midst of “living the dream” something was brewing behind the scenes.

A hatred for Joseph began to take hold in his brothers fueled by this favoritism.

Joseph being overconfident and clueless about this growing hatred, steps right onto a land mine by rubbing this dream about his future supremacy and his brothers’ submission to him.

Genesis 37:5–10 NASB95

Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had; for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?”

How do you think that went over?

Well, it intensified their hatred towards him and they wanted to kill him.

This stunt got Joseph a one way trip to a death pit.

One of his brothers manged to rescue him by convincing the others to sell him to a caravan heading to Egypt instead of killing him, so off to Egypt Joseph went.

The Lord was with Joseph!

Hmmm…Joseph was no longer “living the dream” and probably was thinking that life sucked right about now, but the Lord was with Joseph.

Going to pick up the pace of the story a bit.

In a moment, Joseph’s life was changed from being the beloved son

to a slave in the unknown land of Egypt.

Upon his arrival his sightseeing was cut short because he was sold to Pharaoh’s captain Potiphar to be a servant in his house, but the Lord was with Joseph.

Picking the story back up in Genesis 39, things were starting to shape up for Joseph. Potiphar entrusted him with charge of all of his house affairs due to his work ethic.

Genesis 39:2–6 NASB95

The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

Pretty cool, huh? Not really, because it was short lived.

Genesis 39:7 NASB95

It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”

Due to the false accusation of Potiphar’s wife to her husband, because Joseph would not sleep with her, Joseph was cast into prison.

Joseph paid the price for impeccable integrity, but the Lord was with Joseph.

At this point you might argue, why didn’t God rescue him from his troubles?

Great question, but let’s keep going with the story.

Joseph found favor with the guards in prison and things were going well for being in prison. Later, because of his divine ability to interpret dreams, he thought he was going to get out by helping the chief cup-bearer (who was also in prison)…that falls through — but The Lord was with Joseph.

James 1:2–4 NASB95

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Genesis 39:21–23 NASB95

But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.

Genesis 40:4–8 NASB95

The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time. Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?” Then they said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

Two years later, the cup-bearer (who was now out of prison) remembers Joseph’s divine ability to interpret dreams because Pharaoh was deeply troubled by a dream he had and no one could figure it out.

Joseph gets a get-out-of-jail-free card and finds himself standing before Pharaoh, the most powerful man on the planet at the time to see if he could give it a go.

Because the Lord was with Joseph, he interprets the dream to a future time of abundance that would be followed by a time of great famine.

Pharaoh rewarded Joseph with overseeing the lands of Egypt and in these prosperous times he stored up the abundant harvest in preparation for tough times ahead.

So after many years of suffering and struggle, God made Joseph the most influential person second to Pharaoh in all known world at that time.

His wisdom and planning saved lives of people from not only Egypt but many other nations.

This is where the plot thickens because the famine brings his brothers from Israel to Egypt.

How does it end?

Remember the mistreatment that Joseph endured at the hands of his own brothers?

Well, he forgave them and persuaded them to settle in Egypt with their father, Jacob during the time of famine.

And I love how the story comes full circle in

Genesis 50:19–21 NASB95

But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. “So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Many Christians assume that in these situations that God is not with them.

Most of us forget that the message of Scripture is very clear that God is most powerfully present in these tough situations.

I find it inspiring that through all the trials and temptations that Joseph was faced with; he showed integrity, honesty, solid work ethics, his actions showed a confidence in God and he was faithful to God even when it didn’t feel like God was being faithful to him. Wow!

Don’t abandon your God given values in pursuit of your God given dreams. —Pete Wilson

So often we’re haunted by the things that God “could have done” in our lives,

but He didn’t.

We all have a really important decision – will we put our faith in God or in our circumstances?

When you find yourself in a situation where you feel like God doesn’t care, put your faith in what Scripture tells us about the nature of God. Remember,

Hebrews 13:5 NASB95

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

Many of us get stuck in the “what God is NOT doing” narrative.

Or many of us get stuck treating God like a genie, thinking that if we jump through enough religious hoops

He will somehow grant us whatever we want.

That’s not how it works and that’s why we ALL need to get to the place where Joseph was — trusting God despite our circumstances.

Let’s bring it all together with some lessons we can all learn from Joseph’s life:

1) God’s plans and purposes are far greater than our own!

2) God provides and blesses those who persevere to follow Him.

3) Suffering to God’s people is not always bad! God can use the most painful time of our life for His good.

4) There is value in self-control living in the do-whatever-you-want culture.

5) God honors patience and perseverance in time of troubles.

6) Strive for honesty and strong work ethics. They are sadly missing these days.

7) There is something to be said about fear of Lord and faithfulness to Him.

Even though your life might suck right now, do you have the courage to trust God despite your current circumstances?