“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them. [Genesis 50:20-21 (NLT)]
The above words were spoken by Joseph to his brothers—the men who planned on killing him until greed entered into it and they sold him into slavery for twenty pieces of silver. In retrospect, God’s plan made sense to Joseph but what about the thirteen years he spent between being thrown into a cistern like a piece of trash and becoming second in command to Pharaoh? Was Jacob’s beloved son so confident of God’s plan while standing on the slave auction block in Egypt? What about when he was unjustly accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife? He may have been the warden’s favorite prisoner, but he languished in jail for a crime he refused to commit! What did he think of God’s plan then? When Pharaoh’s cup-bearer was restored to his former position, Joseph’s hopes rose only to have them dashed when the man forgot about his cell mate for another two years. Did Joseph ever doubt? Did he ever ask, “Where’s God in all of this?”
I thought of Joseph’s words after praying for a toddler who is fighting a losing battle with metastasized cancer. In terrible pain, her physicians are running out of treatment options. “Where is God in all of this?” I wondered. “What good can possibly come from it?” If I’m asking these questions, I know her family must be asking them as well. As they watch their daughter suffer, do they ever wonder if God has abandoned them? In retrospect, maybe it will make sense someday. Perhaps the knowledge the toddler’s oncologists glean from her treatment will save some other child. Who knows? Right now, however, her parents can’t look back—they can only look forward and the future is bleak.
It’s times like these that call for faith and hope. God didn’t walk away from us when He finished with creation and He hasn’t walked away from us now. He is still here—at large and in charge! No matter how desolate the circumstances appear, God has not forgotten, abandoned or ignored us.
If I truly believe God is good and in control, I must trust in His inexplicable plan. I believe He is gently holding this little girl and wiping her tears. I believe He is standing with His arms around her worried parents as they stand beside her and that He’s guiding the hospital staff as they insert IVs and search for ways to save her precious life. I know His Holy Spirit is giving voice to my silent prayers for her.
In retrospect, Joseph saw God’s purpose in all he endured. Whether or not we will ever understand God’s actions regarding this beautiful child, I don’t know. From Joseph’s story, we know that God can reroute evil to accomplish good. God was there for Joseph and He’s there for this little girl and her family. He is present; we’re just having trouble seeing Him. Open our eyes, O Lord, open our eyes.
We want Christ to hurry and calm the storm. He wants us to find Him in the midst of it first. [Beth Moore]
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” [James 4:13-15 (MSG)]
People disappoint. Consider Moses’ disappointment when, fresh off Mt. Sinai after a 40 day meeting with God, he returned to find the Israelites worshipping a golden calf. Can you imagine David’s disappointment when Saul, the man he’d comforted with his songs, plotted his death? Picture Nathan’s disappointment in David when he confronted him about his adultery with Bathsheba. Think of Joseph’s disappointment in the brothers he thought loved him as they callously sold him into slavery. Consider Jesus’ disappointment in the denying Peter, the betraying Judas, and His sleeping disciples. For that matter, consider the disappointment of the disciples as they saw their hope for the end of Rome’s tyranny die a criminal’s death on the cross.
I woke to yet another cold dreary winter day. Troubled by a variety of concerns and hoping to improve my glum mood, I turned to Psalms. Unfortunately, I made a bad choice in Psalm 88. Written by Heman the Ezrahite, I saw that originally it was to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction” (which should have been my clue to read no further).
It was a dreary winter day when the entire congregation exited the church into a weed-filled field. Like the Israelites, we were armed with horns, only ours were those silly blowout noisemakers seen at children’s birthday parties. Silently, we marched until we’d circled the muddy patch of ground seven times. Anyone observing us from the highway surely thought us foolish as we raised those noisemakers to our lips, blew hard and then cheered. Unlike the Israelites who marched around Jericho so God would knock down walls, we marched around that field to show our faith that God would erect walls for us!
But she said, “Don’t call me Naomi; call me Bitter. The Strong One has dealt me a bitter blow. I left here full of life, and God has brought me back with nothing but the clothes on my back. Why would you call me Naomi? God certainly doesn’t. The Strong One ruined me.” [Ruth 1:20-21 (MSG)]
Devotions of the Heart 