The Thread: Part IIPrøve

Lost Everything? Or Positioned for Greatness? Joseph's relationship with his brothers and their subsequent actions bear the fruit of a failure on the part of their father, Jacob. This failure resulted in his sons' imitation of the worst of their mother's sins: rejection, jealousy, rivalry, and deceit. When you read what happened, it might look like God had abandoned Joseph. The actions of these brothers caused Joseph to lose his place as the favorite son of a very wealthy man. Imagine the despair and devastation of losing your reputation, freedom, country, citizenship, language, home, family, and way of life. Fortunately, what humans mean for evil, God can use for good. Not only did God use these family circumstances to position Joseph for a mighty destiny, but there were also times when he went to great lengths to do so. Consider when Jacob sent Joseph to Shechem to bring a report on the brothers: Joseph couldn't find them, but "a certain man," who just happened to have heard the brother's plans, found Joseph wandering in a field and directed his path. What are the chances of that? Was it a man or an angel? The man ensured Joseph found his brothers and was sold to Egypt; if that man hadn't done so, the entire civilized world would have been devastated by the coming famine. Next, there just happened to be a caravan of traders headed to Egypt, who sold Joseph to an important official, who was married to just the right lust-filled woman, whose actions resulted in Joseph's imprisonment, where he met prisoners from Pharaoh's service, who paved the way for Joseph to receive freedom and authority in Egypt just in time to prepare for the famine. There are no coincidences in God's story; every detail in Joseph's unfair situation was necessary for God to have his man ready to save the world. Question: Your life is in the Lord's hands; when unfair circumstances come your way, do you complain or trust that God can work it out for good? Prayer: "Lord, no matter the difficulties I face and even when I am treated unfairly, help me seek you for the path forward, always trusting that what Satan means for evil, you can work for good." Pause to consider the trials you are now facing and submit each one to the Lordship of Christ.