We find God's strength in challenges! --by Linden Malki

Life is full of challenges! Some people thrive on looking for ways to use their strengths, some wisely, some not so much. One strong character was Joseph, who let his mouth get ahead of his better judgment (if any), and told his brothers about dreams in which he was a sheaf of grain, when the other sheaves bowed down to his sheaf; and when he saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him. His older brothers already considered him a spoiled brat, and they hatched a plot that ended in Joseph being sold to slave-traders headed for Egypt and his father led to believe him dead. Joseph met the challenge: he became the head housesold manager for the man who bought him.  That led to the next challenge, which we still see all the combinations and permutations of: a false
accusation of rape, which he met with honor (and was unjustly imprisoned).  He met this successfully as well: he become a trusted manager in the prison. He probably thought he was stuck forever, when a released prisoner got word to the Pharoah that Joseph had the gift of reading dreams. We know the story: Joseph received from God the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream of impending famine, a

nd found himself challenged with the arrangements for dealing with the situation--which led to the reunion with his family, who had been forced to come to Egypt for food during the famine. He could have taken advantage of his family's situation to take revenge, but we find him being the protector of his family in their time of vulnerability.

There are usually two parts to a challenge: "... the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide:  Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ..(Joshua 1:2-3) And a promise: "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them." Joshua faces a series of challenges: crossing the Jordan River, destroying Jericho, assigning territories to the various tribes,dealing with the pagans who are in the land and the additional challenge of not allowing the Israelites to become involved; and renewing the covenant between God and the people.

Another man who met challenges is one we're not as familiar with: King Hezekiah, who was king of Judah in the 700BC's, when the Assyrian empire conquered and scattered the northern Kingdom of Israel and besieged Jerusalem. He built a tunnel into the walled city of Jerusalem from a spring outside the wall so the city would have water in case of siege (it has been excavated and I have walked through it);  he kept the morale of the city up while the rest of the country was being conquered, and by a miracle, the soldiers around the city were hit by a plague as well as a recall back home; the story of Isaiah's prayer is one of the most dramatic in Scripture: "The angel of the Lord put to death one hundred eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When they woke up in the morning they were all dead." (2 Kings 19:35KJV) Hezekiah is also, unfortunately, an example of a challenge that he flubbed: He was succeded by his son Manasseh, who got heavily involved in pagan stuff until late in his life.  Being challenged is always a risk; God often challenges us beyond what we can do on our own; and sometime we do flub it up. St Paul said this well: "For when I am weak, then I am strong." --because he had learned that God is the source of strength. we