Faith Facts

• Dennis Hogan, a Kentucky church minister, faced stage four cancer three times with only a 1 percent chance of survival in his final diagnosis
• The biblical account of Joseph demonstrates that God’s presence remains constant even when circumstances suggest abandonment
• True faith means trusting God not for what He will do, but for who He is and what He has already done through Christ’s sacrifice

What do you do when you are on the tightrope of life and there is no net? We really have but two choices: Trust God with all you have, or blame God for allowing you to be in this position.

Dennis Hogan, a minister at the Horse Cave Church of Christ in Kentucky, knows this choice intimately. In 2014, he sat in a doctor’s office and was told he had stage four cancer, squamous-cell carcinoma — for the third time.

The words hit like a kick to the gut. This time he was given a 1 percent chance to survive.

Do the math. He was facing a 99 percent chance this would be his end on Earth.

Tightropes come in many forms: Financial ruin. Death of a loved one. Marital collapse. Every time — every circumstance — we face the same choice. Trust God, or blame him.

We see this play out throughout the Bible. One of the greatest heroes who truly lived a life of trust was Joseph. Early in Genesis 37, we see that God had chosen him for something extraordinary — giving him dreams and the boldness to share them even when it cost him.

“And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more” — Genesis 37:5.

But being called by God did not guarantee an easy life. In fact, the opposite was true. Joseph lived an extraordinarily difficult, painful and lonely life.

Somehow we develop the false idea that when we become a Christian, “God will take care of me” — meaning we won’t have to face hardship. That wasn’t the case for Joseph.

He was thrown into a pit by his own brothers, sold into slavery, wrongly accused and spent years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Where was God? On the surface, it would appear God had abandoned Joseph in that foreign land and that dingy dungeon.

That is precisely where blame is born. Not in rebellion — but in silence.

When God doesn’t answer on our schedule, when the pit gets deeper instead of shallower, blame feels like the only honest response.

But God was there 100 percent of the time.

“The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did” — Genesis 39:2-3.

A pagan noticed the presence of God in Joseph’s life.

“But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison” — Genesis 39:21.

“The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything he did successful” — Genesis 39:23.

A second pagan observed it.

Joseph could have thrown up his hands and blamed God for everything. And yet he chose to trust. God’s presence and providence were not always felt — but they were always there. That is the kind of trust we need. Always.

Trusting God is not a transactional process. It is not quid pro quo — I trust you, so you owe me something good in return.

Why then should we trust God? Because his timing is perfect. His love is unwavering. His mission is holy. And his sacrifice for us is unimaginable.

The tightrope is real. The net is gone. But the God who was with Joseph in the pit and in the prison is the same God who is with you right now.

Trust him — not because of what he will do but because of who he is and what he has already done. The cross settled that question forever.

Dennis Hogan is a three-time cancer survivor and the author of “Trusting God Without a Net.”

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