God intends it for good

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.(Genesis 50:20)

It is undoubtedly an imprecise endeavor to try to understand things from God’s perspective, but the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis seems to invite us to try to do precisely that. In fact, when Joseph finally reveals his identity to the brothers who sold him into slavery, he tells them that while they may have been trying to harm him (as were others along his life’s journey), God was behind the scenes working all things together for good, in order to save the lives of Joseph’s family and preserve the lineage that would eventually culminate in the Messiah.

On one level, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see what God was up to. A famine was coming, and the Israelite family needed to survive so that the Messiah could eventually come and save the people from their sins. In order for the family to survive, God had determined to get Joseph into the position of second-in-command over all of Egypt, the most powerful country in the world at the time, so that he could provide for his family and save them. But on another level, clearly God could have used many different means to bring this about. Indeed, given that it was Joseph’s ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dream that eventually led to his promotion, God could have orchestrated events so that Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream without him first being sold into slavery by his brothers, betrayed by Potiphar’s wife, and forgotten in the dungeon by the cupbearer and the chief baker.

This is where I may be just guessing in my attempt to see things from God’s perspective, but it does seem that God was simultaneously causing (at least) two things to occur. First, he was moving Joseph from Canaan to Egypt and allowing events to unfold so that he would end up second to only Pharaoh, in a position to save his family. But secondly, he was also allowing events to unfold in such a way that Joseph would be humbled and develop the character he would need in order to fulfill his lofty position. Remember that at the beginning of his story, Joseph is his father’s favorite son, hated by his brothers, and having dreams about the other members of his family bowing down to him. While the text does not explicitly say this, it is very likely that the favoritism and dreams caused Joseph to be a proud and arrogant young man. Perhaps if God has simply given Joseph the ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dream without allowing him to endure such terrible rejection, abandonment, and heartache, then he would have ended up as an arrogant leader over Egypt who lacked the wisdom and humility to fulfill God’s purposes. But instead, God allowed circumstances to unfold that would humble Joseph, so that when his time came, his character had been appropriately formed.

We would be wise to take this aspect of God’s plan to heart. His goal is not simply to orchestrate events, but to mold character, to sanctify us so that we would be like Christ. God allowed Joseph to endure appalling abuse and neglect at the hands of people close to him every step of the way, but through it all, He was working everything together for good. And when Pharaoh elevated Joseph to his lofty position, he was ready to lead in the humility and wisdom of God.

Can I encourage you to trust that if God is not orchestrating events according to what you believe should happen, that perhaps He is still working on your character? Ask Him to reveal to you if there is anything you need to repent of or submit to Him, so that when the time finally comes, you will be ready to lead in God’s humility and wisdom.

Posted in
Posted in , ,

No Comments


Recent

Archive

 2024
 2023

Categories

Tags

1 Corinthians 10 1 Peter 4:8-9 1 Thessalonians 5 1 Timothy 1:15-17 2 Corinthians 13:5 2 Timothy 4 Abundant Life Adoption Affirmation American cullture America Anger Anonymity Anthropology Anxiety Apologetics Approval Arguments Atheism Baptism Barnabas Battle Be still Bible Study Bible reading Bible study fellowship Bible Billy Graham Bob Pierce Bonhoeffer Books Breath Prayer Brennan Manning Brian Fearon Bronx Busyness C.S. Lewis Cape Coast Castle Central African Republic Character Charles Spurgeon Charleston Cheap grace Christian media Christian privilege Christian publishing Christmas Church growth Church life Church College Commitment Communication Community Compassion Competition Confidence Contentment Coronavirus Counseling Courage Cove Service Cowardice Craig Wolfram Critical Race Theory Criticism Cross Culture D.L. Moody Daniel David Death Deborah Despair Discernment Discipleship Discipline Distractions Divine sovereignty Division E.M Bounds Easter Ebenzer Ecuador Edward Kimball Election Elisabeth Elliot Enabling Encouragement Endurance Envy Ephesians Eternal life Eternity Evaluation Evangelism Faith False Teachers Fame Family Fasting Father Fear Fellowship Footwashing Forgiveness Francis Chan Freedom Friendship Fruit of the Spirit Gaia McDermott Gates George Mueller Gift exchange Gino Marozzi Giving Glory God's character God's faithfulness God's goodness God's leading God's love God's plan God's power God's presence God's slowness God's sovereignty God's wrath God\'s faithfulness God\'s love God\'s power God\'s presence God\'s sovereignty God\\\'s presence God Good Samaritan Gospel Grace Grief Haiti Handel's Messiah Happiness Hartford City Mission Healing Heaven Hebrews 11 Hell Hiddenness of God History Holiness Hollywood Holy Spirit Home Honesty Hope Horatio Spafford Hospitality Houston Human responsibility Human rights Humility Hypocrisy Identity Ideologies Idols Immanuel In memory of Information overload Injustice Insecurity Integrity Intimacy Isaiah 58 Isaiah 9 Israel JI Packer Jeremiah 29:11 Jeremiah 29 Jeremiah 8:11 Jesus' death Jesus' love Jesus\' love Jesus Job Joe Barone John 6 John 8 John Mark Comer John Newton Jordan Perterson Joseph Joshua Joy Judgement Judges Justice Kanye West Kingdom of God Knowing God Lamentations Lament Las Vegas Leadership Leaf by Niggle Lent Les Miserables Lessons learned Loaves and fishes Longing Lord's Prayer Love Luke 10 Lynne Pleau Mark 10:21 Mark Driscoll Marketing Marriage counseling Matthew 16 Matthew 26 Memorial Day Men's conference Mercy Mike Yaconelli Ministry of presence Ministry Missions Money Moralistic Therapeutic Deism Moses Music Nancy Butler New Year's New life NewLife Old Testament Opinions Optimism Order Orlando Outreach Parenting Passion of the Christ Passion Pastoral care Pastoral ministry Patience Peace Pentecost Peru Phil Vaglica Philip Yancey Philippians 4:13 Play Pokemon Go Politics Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Pride Month Pride Prison ministry Progress Prophecy Prophet Prosperity Gospel Proverbs 14:4 Proverbs Psalm 13 Psalm 27 Psalm 37 Psalm 46:10 Psalm 46 Psalm 51 Public Speaking Purpose R.C Sproul Reflection Relationship with God Relationships Relativism Relevance Religion Reputation Rest Resurrection Rev 2:4 Revival Rich young ruler Righteousness Romantic love Ron Luce Running Sabbath Sacrifice Salvation Same-sex marriage Samuel Sanctification Satan Saul Seculosity Self-Image Self-Worth Service Sex Trafficking Sex Shirley Prey Signifigance Silence Sin Smartphones Social justice Songs of Ascent Spiritual Disciplines Spiritual Formation Spiritual Gifts Spiritual Warfare Spiritual growth Statues Stories Street Church Stress Success Suffering Suicide Sunday School Survivor Syria Technology Teen Mania Thanksgiving The Hartford project The Ragman The Sound of freedom The Underground The Valley of Vision Theology Tim Keller Titanic Titus 2:11-12 Tolkienn Tozer Trauma Trevin Wax Trust Truth Uconn basketball Unanswered Prayer Unity Uvalde Valley of Vision Vows Waiting Williams Syndrome Wisdom Witness Work Worry Worship Zechariah accountability accusation addiction bitterness cancel culture child trafficking confession conflict cool devotion disillusionment divorce emotions evil evolution faithfulness foster care glory days gratitude idolatry influences listening marriage nostalgia pastor perspective problem of Evil prodigal son purity of heart racism recovery redemption relevant repentance story temptation the one Jesus loves time management treasure trials tribalism violence vision