Reality and Reason

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Genesis 50:20

 

They penned the letter out of fear—the fear that Joseph had shelved his grudge until dad died.  “Father said to forgive us,” his brothers wrote, hoping that the memory of Jacob would help patch up the past.  “Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father”(Gen. 50:16-17).

Joseph wept at their words and calmed them with kindness.  “Don’t be afraid.  Am I in the place of God?  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives”(Gen. 50:20).

The reality of the situation: “You intended to harm me.”   The reason for the situation: “God intended it for good.”   Their plan had been bad, but God’s plan had been bigger.  And so much better.  He used their evil to move Joseph to Egypt so a country could survive a famine and their family would be saved.  The pain of the pit had a purpose, and the madness of slavery held a meaning.  In the middle of the book, Joseph might have been a confused reader, but by the end, he was simply amazed at the Author.

Life’s twists and turns may seem a mystery, but the plot never thickens without His permission.  Our realities have a reason.  The Main Character has perfect character, and we can trust Him with the final chapter.

It’s really His story after all.

Go With God

“I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.”   Genesis 46:4

 

The news seemed too good to be true, and, at first, a stunned Jacob couldn’t bring himself to believe. But twenty supply-laden donkeys and a wagon ready for the return trip finally convinced his heart of what he had never dared to hope. “My son Joseph is alive.  I will go see him before I die”(Gen. 45:28).

“So Jacob set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac”(Gen. 46:1).  Beersheba.  The old family homestead.  His grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac, had both lived there.  Both had dug a well there.  Both had worshiped God there.  And as Jacob rolled into town and remembered all the Almighty had said and done, he built his own altar and brought an offering. 

Jacob knew God’s promise to Abraham about lots of descendants and a land to live in, but the covenant concerned the land of Israel – not Egypt.  His thrill of seeing Joseph was tempered by the fear that he might be leaving when God wasn’t leading.  He hoped he was making the right move, but how could he be sure?

During the night God showed up and spoke up.  “‘Jacob! Jacob!’”

“‘Here I am,’ he replied.”

“‘I am God, the God of your father,’ he said.  ‘Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.  I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will bring you back again’”(Gen. 46:2-3).

When Jacob bowed in reverence, God blessed with reassurance.  “Don’t be fearful, Jacob.  I am faithful. Be confident in My power and comforted by My presence.”  So Jacob journeyed on to Egypt and spent the last seventeen years of life enjoying his precious son and his gracious God.

Life’s ventures become adventures when we give them to God.  Never take a step unless you’re certain He is leading. But once you know, go. Without fear and with great faith—for He is with you.

Go with God. 

Treasure In The Sack

“Your God has given you treasure in your sacks.”  Genesis 43:23

 

Joseph knew them the moment he saw them, but the ten tired and hungry shepherds never guessed they were bowing to their baby brother.  They had come to Egypt to buy grain because of the famine, and the need for food knocked them to their knees before the only one who could help them--or hurt them.

They were at Joseph’s mercy, and he could finally make them pay.  Revenge could be so sweet.  Did they remember his anguished cries from the deep, dry well?  They could now.  Had they tasted the humiliation of being sold as property and treated as less?  They could now.  He could make them feel the pain of injustice, the sting of betrayal, the desperate days, the aching heart, and the broken life.   Payback wouldn’t be pretty, and the score was his to settle.

But he didn’t.  Instead Joseph, still unknown to them, sent them home, keeping Simeon in Egypt until they returned with his younger brother.  He filled their sacks with grain and topped of their supplies with the silver they had given as payment.  

His kindness caught them off guard and made them afraid.  On their next trip down to buy more grain, they found Joseph’s steward and said, “‘Please, sir, we came down here the first time to buy food.  But at the place we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver.  We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.’  ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Don’t be afraid.  Your God has given you treasure in your sacks’”(Gen. 43:20-23).

“Treasure in your sacks.”  They asked for grain, but what they needed more was grace, and as Joseph’s brothers pulled the silver from their sacks, they were holding the treasure of forgiveness.  Unexpected, undeserved, unforgettable forgiveness.

Don’t pay back others for what they have done.

Pay forward what God has done.

“Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”