August 12, 2026 Midweek News
Last Sunday we looked at the first part of the story of Joseph in Genesis. “When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s long robe, took him, and threw him into the cistern, an empty cistern with no water in it. (Genesis 37:23-24). Yikes!
Joseph went from being the favored son in a special robe to sitting abandoned at the bottom of a dry pit, sold into slavery by his own family. When our lives suddenly shift from mountain tops to dark valleys—through a sudden diagnosis, a broken relationship, or unexpected hardship—we naturally ask where God is in the middle of it all. We can wonder if God is silent, absent, or even causing our distress.
It is tempting to think of God as a puppet master who pulls all the strings, orchestrates our pain, or plays favorites like father Jacob. But scripture reveals something much more comforting. God does not cause our suffering or deliver us into hardship. Instead, God is omnipresent—present with us in the very depths of the pit. God weeps when we weep, grieves when we are harmed, and works tirelessly from within our dark moments to nudge us toward healing, love, and ultimate redemption.
Genesis is full of powerful stories like the story of Joseph. But Genesis is long and can feel intimidating. The Bible Project put together a neat 8-minute video summary of Genesis here: https://bibleproject.com/videos/genesis-12-50/
It tells the big picture story of God’s relationship with God’s people from Genesis chapter 12-50. Enjoy!