Day 5: When People Mean Bad, But God Means Good

Genesis 45:7-8 (ESV) And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
(READ THE WHOLE CHAPTER)

One of the most discouraging things we experience is when life takes a very bad turn, and we wonder how God could possibly redeem the situation. It could be an untimely death, the loss of a job, the betrayal of a friend. Any experiences which seem to violate the essence of what is good and right.

On this point, the Bible offers a perspective that only faith can accept: God is able to use misfortune to move our lives in a direction that glorifies him. This is a paradox, but true: bad things may seem to get us off course, but later in life we discover how the altered course became a purposeful course.
What could be more wrong than a group of jealous brothers beating and leaving for dead one of their own? Joseph, son of Jacob, was one of twelve brothers who were envious of his character and so they turned against him. On a desert road they beat him, put him in a cistern, then sold him into slavery (Gen. 37: 23–28). 

In this way, the young Joseph came, as a slave, to the great superpower of the time, Egypt. With his gifts and his character, he rose to prominence—ultimately to be the most powerful person in Egypt next to Pharaoh. Amazing. Years later, in that position of power and wealth, he welcomed his estranged brothers, who came to Egypt seeking food during a great famine. 

When they realized the “Lord of Egypt” before them was the brother they had left for dead, they heard Joseph’s amazing interpretation: “It was not you who sent me here, but God.” Why? “To save your lives for a great deliverance” (Gen. 45:7-8). 

What is the lesson here? Not that we ought to take bad things and call them good, which leads to moral confusion. Rather, God takes the results of bad things and turns them toward the good. So if your position in life today is the result of a bad turn of events—loss or sin or betrayal—you can know that God is able to take you wherever you are and use you for his good purposes.

PONDER: Who do you know that was able to take bad circumstances and turn them toward something good? 

DISCUSSION or REFLECTION:
Joseph was treated horribly by his brothers. Many years later, Joseph had a choice to make. When his brothers came to him in need of his help, would he return evil for evil? Or through forgiveness would he return good for evil?
Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave. Years later, when he met up with them again, this is how he responded (read Genesis 45:7-8). What was Joseph saying to his brothers? Does it sound like Joseph forgave them? Read Matthew 18:21-22. Whom in your life do you need to forgive?