In and Out

In grade school we had this kid in my class named Bobby.  Bobby had some accident as a baby or toddler, which left him with some sort of brain damage.  Because of that injury, Bobby couldn’t keep up with the rest of us, and he was naturally excluded.  Because Bobby was a little slower than the rest of us, it just seemed like he didn’t fit in.  He was the one to be excluded from kick ball.  He was the one who couldn’t play in our basketball games.  He was the one who was last on his tests.  When we played the “Light Up Color Simon Says” game in music class, he couldn’t do it.  Lots of kids made fun of Bobby.  Honestly, I think I felt bad for him, but I never chose to stand up for him.

 I remember one day Bobby got really sick, and had to leave school.  He was gone for several weeks.  We heard all kinds of stories about how sick he was.  It seemed like everybody in the class felt sad for him.  One day he showed up at music class wearing brand new Reebok Pumps.  Those shoes had just become the newest fad.  Everybody wanted them, and Bobby had them.  Bobby was the rock star.  Everybody wanted to pump his shoes up, and he let them.  Bobby was on top of the world that day, but he, himself, was the real focus.  See, the thing was that Bobby never looked at us like we looked at him.  Bobby looked at all people like they mattered.  When Bobby got the chance to show them they mattered, he let them pump up his shoes, because Bobby didn’t leave anybody out.

Throughout this series we will learn through the eyes of Joseph how God is with us during the ups and downs of life.  He never leaves us out.  The challenge is, that as human beings we take those up and downs, ins and outs, as a sign of God’s favor or lack of favor.  The reality is, that in each moment of our lives, God loves us, and provides us with many ways in which we can serve Him.  This series reminds us that in God’s house nobody’s left out.  In His house, nobody operates like my friends and I did in grade school.  God has given talents to each of us.  Over the next four weeks we will celebrate those talents, and look for ways in which we can be Extraordinary Servants in this world.  Like Joseph, we all have moments when we feel like we are tossed out and sold into slavery.  We find ourselves enslaved to those moments, those issues, those feelings of brokenness and loneliness.  Yet, Jesus comes to restore us.  He speaks life into us and finds many ways for us to serve Him, even when we feel like we have been beaten down too badly to be useful to anyone.   God doesn’t leave anybody out!