It's easy to watch the news each day and wonder why God is standing back and letting bad things happen. Those who speak up for what is good and right have become the minority and are shamed for their stance. Evil voices and influences appear to hold the greater influence and talk with louder voices.

I see battle fatigue in many of God's people. From politics to personal problems, it seems like we're losing, or at least it seems as if our Commander is nowhere to be found. When that happens, it is hard to keep fighting and to stay encouraged.

This morning I was thinking about Joseph, who upheld righteous standards both in Canaan where he grew up and in Egypt where he was sent. His attempts at doing good were met with being sold into slavery, becoming a servant in Potiphar's household, taking the fall for Potiphar's wife's lies, and landing in prison--all while God seemed absent. But let's take a closer look at Scripture as we ask this question:

Where was God when Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery? "The Lord was with Joseph" (Gen. 39:2).

Where was God when Potiphar threw Joseph unfairly into prison? "The Lord was with Joseph" (Gen. 39:21).

Where was God for all the years Joseph was behind bars? "The Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper" (Gen 29:23).

Today, we can ask the same question of all that's going on in our lives, and though we don't see our story printed in the Bible, the answer is the same: The Lord is with us. The Lord is in the circumstances. The Lord is in total control. The Lord is in charge.

When we get up in the morning and turn on the news or take a difficult phone call or e-mail first thing, we can feel battle fatigue. It's easy to get overwhelmed with circumstances. But when we turn on praise music at the beginning of the day and talk to God before life hits, none of what we have to handle in the day will seem hopeless. It becomes easier to fight on. That's because we have a better view of the big picture. We remember that God's ways are not ours: " 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord" (Is. 55:8):

We also remember that His timing is not ours:
"But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pe. 3:8-9).

Most of all we remember that He is totally trustworthy and never AWOL. Your job and mine is to keep speaking up for what is good and right no matter what other people think or how few are standing with us. He'll bring about the results in His way in His time.

Where is God in all this? The Lord is with us.