The Goodness of Our God

In the book of Genesis, we read about the life of Joseph. If you remember how the story goes, Joseph was one of twelve sons of his father Israel (formerly Jacob). Being the son of Israel's beloved wife Rachel, Joseph was specially loved by his father. Because of this, Joseph's brothers developed a deep hatred for him, which was only accentuated by Joseph's dreams of them bowing down before him. When the opportunity presented itself, the brothers formed a plan and sold Joseph into slavery.

Joseph found himself in Egypt where he was bought by Potiphar to serve in his household. After being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, Joseph spent two years in an Egyptian prison, only being released after accurately interpreting Pharaoh's dreams. His "luck" quickly changed when he now found himself as the number two man over all the nation of Egypt. His task was to prepare for the coming seven years of famine.

If we jump ahead in the story, we find Joseph once again reunited with his brothers who have since moved to Egypt to escape the foretold famine. His brothers are worried that now that their father had died, Joseph would want to extract his revenge. "But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today" (Genesis 50:19-20 ESV). God had been working behind the scenes to accomplish something remarkable. The brothers did something genuinely wicked in selling Joseph into slavery, but God was using that event to save Joseph's family, the Egyptians, and countless others in the midst of this famine.

What does this mean for us today? It means that things may not always be as they appear. Although we witness terrible things happening in the world, we need to remember that God is still at work accomplishing remarkable things. I can't tell you exactly how God uses tragedy and the evil intentions of man to accomplish His plan, but I trust that He does. There truly is no meaningless evil.

This is especially true for the Christian because "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

God is weaving a divine tapestry that won't be fully seen until we're with Him in glory. When it's finally and totally revealed we'll all agree that God's plan was good. God's plan was infinitely better.

What an awesome God we have!