Joseph was the saviour of Egypt. Another happy ending! Even Jacob and his other 11 sons came to Egypt to buy food from Joseph. The family settled in Egypt, but many years later the father Jacob died. And now it was crunch time – would Joseph forgive his brothers??? Or was he still holding a grudge. Deep inside did he still have some horrible revenge plotted? Thrown into a pit, sold into slavery to be come one of “the disappeared”. And on top of that two years in jail in Egypt for a crime he hadnt even committed! You might imagine Joseph would be a bit miffed! Resentful. Angry. Vindictive. Instead this is how Joseph responded.
Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Joseph saw the big picture. He saw beyond what his brothers had done to him, the ways they had rejected and hurt and got rid of him. he saw behind all these things God’s master-plan. How God had allowed these things for a reason. Joseph saw his life from God’s eternal perspective. Sometimes when people hurt us badly we find it impossible to forgive them. Like Joseph, we need to see the big picture. I’m not saying that God WANTS us to be hurt or betrayed. But he does ALLOW these things to happen – and He can bring good out of them.
Joseph was able to look back and see the hand of God at work, even in those times when he himself had suffered terribly physically and emotionally. In every tragedy “you can look at what you’ve lost and be hateful, or you can look at what you have left and be grateful”. Joseph was a grand example of choosing to be grateful instead of hateful.
It may not be so easy to see why God allows us to suffer or to be hurt when we are in the middle of things. It may only be years later, with hindsight that we can say “YOU did this to me, but God intended it for good – and this is the good that came out of that hurtful situation.” We may NEVER in this life understand why God our loving Heavenly Father allows some things to happen to His children. But the Bible encourages us to trust like Joseph did in the love and wisdom and righteousness of our faithful loving God.
God IS Sovereign. God IS in control over every one of our lives. And we are encouraged to trust HIM and trust his cosmic masterplan – even when we don’t understand what is happening to us.