Trust Him
Good Morning,
These are the words of Joseph after his father’s death, and in response to his brothers fearing the wrath of the brother they sold into slavery.
Genesis 50:19 “…. am I in the place of God?”
vs. 20 “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
First of all, Joseph felt it was not his job to “get even,” for he was not in the place of God. We can trust God to take care of evil; we do not need to exercise vengeance.
Secondly, God has a plan when evil men hurt us. Yes, it was difficult for Joseph, and there is no way of knowing all of the emotional hurt he dealt with being sold and resold. But God was not dead, and God had a great and wonderful plan.
Third, we see that the suffering of Joseph was going to be used to save others, and most assuredly, he saved entire nations.
vs. 20 “… to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
Paul wrote something similar:
Philippians 1:12 “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel…"
Paul suffered much, but God had a plan and used the suffering of Paul greatly to save the lost.
I wish all of us could focus on the lost getting saved more than our own comfort and well being. We are choking on self-help, yoga, meditation, natural remedies, gyms, spas, and diet plans while the world is dying and going to hell. I believe God would rather a fat man, who is unhealthy and living on junk food, go to the world soul winning than a healthy person sit in a detox program cleansing their inward parts while the world goes to hell.
What is it you have faced? How will God use that hurt to open doors to share the Gospel. If you have faced cancer, then cancer patients will listen to you more readily than to me. If you were orphaned, then the poor and forgotten child will listen to your message of Christ more easily than to someone like me who had a loving home.
Do not think God cannot use our hurt. Commit the difficult trials to His divine will and rest in the goodness of God that He has a plan – a wonderful plan. Living by faith will remove bitterness and much anxiety. Trust Him; rest in Him; believe Him.
Pastor