Genesis 41:53-57

"And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands."
Genesis 41:53-57


Sometimes I think that we forget how amazing God is.  We take him for granted, and think maybe he listens to our problems, helps us find our car keys, but all the heavy lifting is up to us. :)  Which is hilarious, and a little twisted.  We do have to do some heavy lifting in our lives... not because God is incapable, but because *we* have to learn to be capable.  And God is so much more amazing than we give him credit for on a daily basis.
The story in these verses is the result of a dream that Pharaoh had, that Joseph interpreted.  7 years of abundance, and then 7 years of dearth.  And God told them about it ahead of time, so they could prepare and save the people from starvation.
I think the same thing happens to us in our lives.  We have periods of prosperity and periods of hardship.  Whether it is physically, mentally, socially, or spiritually... we all go through phases where things are great, and phases where things are really hard.  And God warns us too.  He encourages us to store a year's supply of food in case of shortage or environmental emergency.  He asks us to read scripture, pray, and write in our journals, so that we have reserves and memories of spiritual strength when things get hard in those ways.  He encourages us to be friendly and to build strong families so that we can weather social tragedy.  He asks us to pursue education and to read and learn so that we can weather mental and emotional storms and still keep our heads. :)
Today, let's take of the abundance that Christ has blessed us with, and let's prepare to weather any storms that come our way.  Let's listen to God, who is overwhelmingly amazing and can see the future, and who knows how everything fits together.  If there is some heavy lifting to do in preparing and becoming... let's do it.  We'll never get better advice than from God... and his whole goal is our happiness.  That's worth working for. :)