Standards for Forced Situations

We all rooted for Cinderella. You remember the story.  A young girl's mother died and her father remarried.  He was a loving father but the stepmother, well, not so much.  Tragedy struck.  The father died too.  Cinderella was left with a stepmother and stepsisters who treated her horribly.  By no fault of her own, Cinderella was stuck in cruel situation. We can all relate to having our lives negatively impacted by situations that are out of our control.  So we read Cinderella's story to the end with great anticipation needing the fairy tale ending for what it speaks to our lives.

 

How do we handle forced situations?  What do we do when we have tried to handle things God's way to the best of our ability, but other people purposely do things to bring us down.  Well, the Bible is full of examples of people dealing with situations like this. In Genesis, we can read the story of Joseph.  Joseph's brothers wanted to kill him. Instead they sold him away.  Joseph was forced to leave his country and family and be treated as a slave by no choice of his own.  Joseph overcame that and became a prominent person.  He was so excellent that he caught the eye of his master's wife.  Joseph refused to dishonor his master by sleeping with his wife.  She accused him of attempting rape and Joseph was sent to prison.  He was forced into another unjust situation that had brought him down. 

 

I could go on and on with other accounts in the Bible much like Joseph's.  I believe there are so many instances of forced situations in the Bible because God knows that we deal with so many instances of it in everyday life.  I am sure we each have a story of our own we could tell about how we were hurt or brought low because of something someone else did to us. What's more is the story we have will probably not be our last.  That being said, it is important that we know how to handle times in our lives like these.  The Bible demonstrates some standards for dealing with forced situations and I want to share what I've noted with you.

 

Standard One: Honor God

No matter what has happened to you or how, we can never allow it to affect our love and reverence for God.  Through all that Joseph went through, Joseph remained connected to and faithful to God.

Standard Two: Respect Authority and Trust God

Sometimes the people who harm us are people in authority over us.  When we are making efforts to rectify the situation, we should maintain a level of respect for those in authority over us.  The Bible says that God sets people in positions of authority.  When they wrong us, it is God's job to get them in line not ours.  We have to trust that God will defend us.  God says he is our defense.  He doesn't lie.  When we take situations into our own hands in a disorderly, disrespectful way, things are guaranteed to get worse. Joseph had every reason to go head to head with his master and his master's wife , but he humbled himself.  He trusted God to fix it.

Standard Three: Keep Going To Sleep and Waking Up

That just means don't stop. Don't give up.  Keep going to sleep and waking up and the day will surely come that you will be vindicated.  Joseph kept going to sleep and waking up. Joseph had been in prison for more than two years and then one day he woke up and the king called for him because he needed him.  Joseph went before the king and gave the king an interpretation of a dream God had sent the king.  The king was so impressed with Joseph that he made him second in charge after him. 

If you are dealing with a forced situation, remember Cinderella.  The position of honor she deserved surely did come to her.   Too much of a fairytale?  Then get in the Word.  God shows us time and again in the Bible that he has a history of bringing about justice for the sake of his own.  Research  David, Daniel, Esther, and Ruth in the Bible.  Notice how they follow the standards for forced situations. Then take note of the outcomes. God brings his people out.


Scripture: Isaiah 54:17    
No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.

Prayer:
Lord vindicate us when we are wronged. May our faith always rest in you.