52 Reasons to Hope (and Hold on to Your Faith)
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God Is in the Midst of Our Situation
So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ¬¬––Genesis 39:19-20
This passage relates to Joseph’s imprisonment and how God delivered him and made him one of the greatest leaders ever. The prison in the passage was a physical place that also represented a mental place. To us it can represent a place of unease or bondage that might involve finances, relationships, or health.
Joseph knew that he had to find a place in his situation where he could rest and be at peace until his deliverance. It must have been hard to be in the same place year after year, but I believe he did not lose hope. I believe he occupied his mind with positive thoughts because he knew that God would not fail him. He probably surrounded himself with people who encouraged and uplifted him when he was down. Difficult situations have a way of showing us exactly what we are made of. So, instead of cursing or attacking people or letting the situation get the best of us, we have to transform our minds until God delivers us out of the dilemma.
I remember going through a situation in which most of the people I trusted turned against me. Instead of retaliating, I made up my mind to distance myself from negative people and to dismiss their condescending ways. I turned my focus to God, and I resolved to accomplish the dreams He laid on my heart. I believed that one day my joy and peace would return. I knew I would find purpose in my situation because times like these are when life lessons are revealed.
God lifts us up out of the dungeon and empowers us to make the impossible into reality. He wants us to know that He is in the midst of our ordeals. God was with Joseph in prison, and He is with us in all of our situations. There’s no situation we can encounter where God is incapable of reaching in and snatching us out. God is in prison with us, and He desires to show us mercy and grant us favor in our predicaments.
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About the Book
52 Reasons to Hope (and Hold on to Your Faith) shares fifty-two golden nuggets of inspiration that encourage you to turn all of your problems over to God. They will infuse you with hope, and inspire you to believe that there is Light in any darkness.
You don’t need to worry about the challenges and valleys in your life, because God is in total control of it . . . and He will always be there for you! The selections in this book will remind you of what it means to walk in faith and trust God in every area of your life.
If you don’t already know God, these offerings can ignite something in you that will spur you to seek Him: He makes every burden we have lighter!
About the Author
Author Charmaine Miller is an optimistic, energetic person who has been pursuing writing as a form of personal expression since contributing to her high school newspaper in Wilmington, Delaware. Throughout the years, she has written various articles for churches and other organizations. She obtained an undergraduate degree from Norfolk State University, an MBA from Strayer University, and recently completed an MS in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Full Sail University.
Charmaine accepted Jesus Christ into her life as her personal Savior at the tender age of nine. Although she has occasionally strayed from the straight and narrow in her walk with the Lord, she has always felt His presence in her life. In 1992, after returning to her hometown of Wilmington, Delaware following a seven-year stint in New York, she rededicated her life to Christ.
After relocating to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006, Charmaine experienced an extremely difficult time in her life, which led her to the realization that she needed to find something extraordinary to do with the rest of her life. She resolved to begin pursuing her dreams, instead of just plodding along in a “job”.
She began meditating on Scriptures and writing down her thoughts, which gave her tremendous hope and inspiration. Out of these exercises this book was born! Her heartfelt desire is that everyone who reads this book will find in its pages something to inspire them to change not only their current situation, but also their future legacy.
Charmaine Miller, the eighth of nine children born to James and Adlyn Miller, currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her daughter Portia.