TOWARD A BETTER ENDING

READING: GENESIS 50:15-21

Verse 20: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

The Bible describes the life of Joseph in the Book of Genesis. In the process of doing so, it also provides some important insight about God’s faithfulness. It tells of how Joseph was sold as a slave. After that, because God was with him, he became successful and was given supervision over all that his master owned. Then, because he refused to compromise godly standards, Joseph was confined to prison. Once again the Bible states that the Lord was with him and gave him favor. As the result, the keeper of the prison entrusted everything to Joseph. The Lord then used that very confinement in a manner that eventually caused him to be set over all the land of Egypt. Joseph truly had hard times that continually worsened. However, his trials were all redeemed by the reality that hard times do not translate into an absence of God. In fact, it is the presence of the Lord that takes hard times and turns them into times of great victory. In the lives of Christians, the presence of the Holy Father to care for us effectively causes even hardship to work for our good. Indeed all things do “...work together for good to those who love God...” (Romans 8:28) That’s a thought – about God’s Word.

RESPONSE

1. Does today’s reading have current application for you?

2. Who is another biblical personality that demonstrates this same truth about our lives in Christ?