Genesis 42-45

Day 30

Genesis 42-45

Genesis 45:4-7
⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

How can God allow evil?  What did Joseph do to deserve being sold into slavery by his own brothers?  When people do things to us that we see as evil or hurtful the common reaction is to wonder why God allowed that to happen to us? 

·         Maybe you were a rape victim

·         Maybe you were a victim of domestic abuse

·         Maybe you were a victim of child abuse

·         Maybe you were a victim of sexual abuse

No matter what man has done to you or will do to you, God intends to use it for good…  (Genesis 50:20)  ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

You see we can’t do anything that God can’t use for good!   That victim of domestic violence might be the one God uses to start a ministry that helps other victims.  Then the one act of violence saves the lives of many people…  Just as the act committed by Joseph's brothers; God used to save the lives of his Joseph's own family and an entire nation!