Posted by
peripheral on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 6:47:49 AM
From My Perspective - - -
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe first published in 1719, and
sometimes considered to be the first novel in English. After a
tumultuous journey that sees his ship wrecked by a vicious storm, his
lust for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This
journey too ends in disaster as the ship is taken over by pirates, and
Crusoe becomes the slave of a Moor. He manages to escape and years
later, he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but is
shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island -
which he calls the Island of Despair. His companions all die. He
proceeds to build a fenced-in habitation near a cave which he excavates
himself. He keeps a calendar by making marks in a wooden cross built by
himself. He reads the Bible and suddenly becomes religious, thanking
God for his fate in which nothing is missing but society. The immediacy
of his situation is the sense of abandonment – having been left
completely and finally; forsaken utterly; deserted and alone to either
survive by ingenuity or to die in despair. Crusoe chose to live and
devised a plan of survival and deliverance from his Island of Despair.
In a similar way, a recent film - CAST AWAY – tells the story of Chuck
Noland who is a time-obsessed FedEx systems analyst, who travels
worldwide resolving productivity problems at FedEx depots. A Christmas
with relatives is interrupted by Chuck being summoned to resolve a
problem overseas. While flying through a violent thunderstorm somewhere
over the southern Pacific Ocean, an incident occurs on Chuck's plane
which results in it crashing into the ocean. Chuck is able to escape
the sinking plane and is saved by an inflatable life-raft, which floats
for some time in the storm before being washed up on an island. It soon
becomes clear that the island is uninhabited, and Chuck's early
attempts to make visual signals for any searching aircraft, and to
escape the island in the remnants of his life raft are fruitless. Four
years pass, and after a large sheet of plastic washes up on the island,
Chuck decides to use it as a sail in the construction of a raft. After
spending some time building and stocking the raft and deciding when the
weather conditions will be optimal, Chuck launches the raft and finally
escapes the island. After some time on the ocean, the raft is virtually
destroyed by a storm. Distraught, Chuck resigns himself to his fate and
abandons his attempt to find rescue. Half-dead and sunburned, he is
found drifting a short time later by a passing cargo ship. Upon
returning home Chuck discovers that he has long been given up for dead
by everyone he knows; his family and friends held a funeral; and the
love of his life had married someone else.
Some situations of abandonment occur by accident, whereas others happen
by design. In Genesis 37, there is the account of Joseph being sold
into slavery. His older brothers feel he is more loved by their father
than they are, and come to the point where they hate him. At first,
they plan to kill him but them decide to sell him to a passing caravan.
A commentator (Boice) shares his impressions of Joseph: “Joseph, being
seventeen years old: He was loved and hated, favored and abused,
tempted and trusted, exalted and abased. Yet at no point in the 110
year life of Joseph did he ever seem to get his eyes off God or cease
to trust him. Adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity did
not ruin him. He was the same in private as in public.”
What is it that sustained Joseph in his abandonment? How did he manage
to survive rejection, hatred, being alone, and having become chattel in
the hands of others? It is the truth shared throughout all generations
and eloquently stated in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not, for I am with
thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; I will
help thee; I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
There comes a time during a famine when Joseph will be in the company
of his brothers one more time. They are at his mercy and revenge could
be so sweet. But - what will Joseph do at such a moment? How will he
respond to those who hated him and wanted him dead? In Genesis
50:19-21, “Joseph said to them…You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done…And he
reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” He forgave them and fed them!
Don’t let adversity or abandonment harden your character. God has not
abandoned you! Consider these things with me!