We have to remember that when it comes to the hurt and abuse and injustice we face, God is in it. Joseph was forsaken, framed, and forgotten. But in and through it all, Joseph saw God. His brothers feel guilt for selling Joseph as a slave and they now want to beat themselves up. But Joseph seeks to give them a God-saturated perspective.
God sent me before you to preserve life. Genesis 45:5b (ESV)
And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. Genesis 45:7 (ESV)
So it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:8a (ESV)
It’s not just that Joseph believed that God took evil and worked it for good. He also believed that the evil of his brothers was actually a part of God’s plan. He trusted God.
We have to trust God, too. The most spiritually mature among us understand that God intends to use the evil for some higher end. We are only going to move beyond our past when we embrace it as part of God’s plan.
Joseph understood something we often forget. It’s providence of God. God is in charge of our ups and downs, of our hurts and healings, of our demotions and promotions, of our friends and family. God is at work in and through the people and circumstances in our lives.
The Providence of God can be defined this way:
God in eternity past, in the counsel of His own will, ordained everything that will happen; yet in no sense is God the author of sin; nor is human responsibility removed.
He works through what theologians call “secondary causes.” But He is the primary cause. Later in the story, after Joseph’s dad has died and the brothers are afraid that Joseph will now get revenge, Joseph comforts them.
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20 (ESV)
God had it in His mind that Joseph would be ruler over all the land of Egypt. But how? First, Joseph's brothers must hate him. Next, they must put him in a pit. Then, they must sell him. These are steps down, not up, right? But God works in ways we cannot see. His master’s wife must falsely accuse him. His boss must throw him into prison. More downward steps, right? Wait and see the rest of the story. Put all the parts together. If Joseph had not been put in the pit, he never would have been placed in the prison. And if Joseph had not been placed in the prison, he never would have interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and ended up in the place.
Right place at the right time? Yes! Because God is in charge.
Joseph saw the secondary cause. His brothers sold him into slavery. But he also saw the primary cause. Even when he was in the pit and the prison, God was working the whole time to place him in a position of power that would save the family from starvation during the famine.
What hurts have happened to you? Someone has wronged you. But you can’t see beyond that hurt. You’re bitter, perhaps, because you are fixated on the secondary cause. And you’re missing the primary cause. You’re missing God.
God will use that evil for good. How? I am not sure. But you can trust Him.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (ESV)
Forgiveness comes a whole lot easier when we understand that God will use the hurts for your own good and for His own glory.
God specializes in taking what others intend for harm and uses it for good. God is more interested in our character than He is in our comfort. Sometimes, He allows others to do hurtful things to us in order to work out His purposes in and through us.
God sent me before you to preserve life. Genesis 45:5b (ESV)
And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. Genesis 45:7 (ESV)
So it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:8a (ESV)
It’s not just that Joseph believed that God took evil and worked it for good. He also believed that the evil of his brothers was actually a part of God’s plan. He trusted God.
We have to trust God, too. The most spiritually mature among us understand that God intends to use the evil for some higher end. We are only going to move beyond our past when we embrace it as part of God’s plan.
Joseph understood something we often forget. It’s providence of God. God is in charge of our ups and downs, of our hurts and healings, of our demotions and promotions, of our friends and family. God is at work in and through the people and circumstances in our lives.
The Providence of God can be defined this way:
God in eternity past, in the counsel of His own will, ordained everything that will happen; yet in no sense is God the author of sin; nor is human responsibility removed.
He works through what theologians call “secondary causes.” But He is the primary cause. Later in the story, after Joseph’s dad has died and the brothers are afraid that Joseph will now get revenge, Joseph comforts them.
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20 (ESV)
God had it in His mind that Joseph would be ruler over all the land of Egypt. But how? First, Joseph's brothers must hate him. Next, they must put him in a pit. Then, they must sell him. These are steps down, not up, right? But God works in ways we cannot see. His master’s wife must falsely accuse him. His boss must throw him into prison. More downward steps, right? Wait and see the rest of the story. Put all the parts together. If Joseph had not been put in the pit, he never would have been placed in the prison. And if Joseph had not been placed in the prison, he never would have interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and ended up in the place.
Right place at the right time? Yes! Because God is in charge.
Joseph saw the secondary cause. His brothers sold him into slavery. But he also saw the primary cause. Even when he was in the pit and the prison, God was working the whole time to place him in a position of power that would save the family from starvation during the famine.
What hurts have happened to you? Someone has wronged you. But you can’t see beyond that hurt. You’re bitter, perhaps, because you are fixated on the secondary cause. And you’re missing the primary cause. You’re missing God.
God will use that evil for good. How? I am not sure. But you can trust Him.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (ESV)
Forgiveness comes a whole lot easier when we understand that God will use the hurts for your own good and for His own glory.
God specializes in taking what others intend for harm and uses it for good. God is more interested in our character than He is in our comfort. Sometimes, He allows others to do hurtful things to us in order to work out His purposes in and through us.
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