God-given Outlook During Times of Abandonment -- A Letter from Pastor Todd

Dear Favor-Finding PoC,

When I was in college I had a roommate who I didn’t know very well. While we were friends, I didn’t know much about him. We coexisted pretty well. He went his way. I went mine. We were both very busy . . . working . . . dating great girls . . . life was good. Kim and I were crazy busy with church volunteering, work and school and every weekend was packed. It was nearing the time for us to be married so I knew I needed to move out of the apartment I shared with my roommate. Kim and I looked at the calendar and couldn’t see a date when we could pack up anytime soon, so we made the decision one night to pack up what we had so that we could just get it done. Our thinking was that it was easier to just live out of the boxes now than to find time to pack later. I could stay until the end of our lease, but then be free to simply move out with the packing already done.

It spooked my roommate. He was convinced that I was abandoning him, that I was going to walk out on him, leaving him stuck with the full amount of the rent. Like I said, I didn’t know him very well, so I did my best to explain that I wasn’t going anywhere, that I just needed to pack early while I had time. He wasn’t convinced . . . was extra paranoid, and started acting pretty strangely. Sure enough, I came home a few days later to find that he had moved out, didn’t pay rent, broke the lease and left a note that said, “Have a good life!” Seriously. I was . . . abandoned. Not gonna lie, it sucked!
I felt obligated to be unhappy about it. It never occurred to me to have a good attitude about it until I went to work and told my sad tale to a coworker who then said, “Well, I’m going back to work. Let me know when you choose to see the bright side.” Ha! What I learned in that moment was that I had to choices. I could choose to be abandoned with a good attitude and outlook, OR I could choose to be abandoned with a bad attitude and outlook. I chose hope. And it helped . . . quickly. In a matter of minutes, I found a new place to live and was released from my lease without penalty.

This week we’re going to hit the pavement with Joseph again as he is led from Potiphar’s house to the dungeon. He’s been falsely accused, betrayed by his family, and it won’t be long before he too finds himself abandoned by his friend, the Cupbearer. And he will have a choice to make. He can choose to be crushed continually by the unfaithfulness of people or he can choose to have forward-facing trust in the faithfulness of our Lord. I think you know what he’s going to choose, but I hope you run to join us on Sunday to hear the story . . . drive fast . . . be careful . . . come early . . . get a good seat!!

Over the past few months I’ve been walking with some wonderful, classy, awesome people who have every right to feel abandoned. I wish I knew why God has allowed such pain, but the truth is, I don’t know. And, that’s ok. I choose to trust Jesus and point everyone I know to Him. He has a plan. He knows that we cannot control whether we will be treated fairly today or tomorrow . But He can give us the power to choose how we will respond. Our attitude is something we can control (with His power at work in us). Resentment, hostility, bitterness, revenge – these are the common attitudes people choose when they’re mistreated and abandoned. God, however, has a different choice in mind for His children.

“For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.” - (I Peter 2: 20)

PoC, I’m praying for you and hope that as we journey together that God truly sets us up for some major favor finding.

Let’s Keep Talking About Jesus,

Pastor Todd