Joseph’s life was anything but peaceful. It was complicated by youthful
folly, broken dreams, and the mean-spirited actions of others. Sold into slavery by jealous brothers. Thrown into prison on
false charges. Yet he remained a man remarkable for his lack of bitterness or regret, always seeing God as the “Great
Engineer” behind even the worst of circumstances.
In a final confrontation with his brothers, he graciously noted, “You meant it for bad; God meant it
for good.”
The theology packed
in that statement is astounding. “God meant it for good” means:
You can accept the past – No sin, no action, no choice on your part is too big for God to handle – or too big to be worked
for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Just ask Joseph! Better yet, ask
his fearful and famished brothers, who were forced to rely on him for survival.
You can embrace the present
– There’s no need to play the “what if” game. The past is gone,
and no energy you expend will ever change it. The future is in God's omnipotent hands, so you’re free to focus on
the present. Your job is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, trusting him to forgive the past and transform the
future. Martyred missionary Jim Eliot once wrote, “Wherever you are, be all there” – not living in the past
and not fantasizing about the future. God wants you in the present because that’s where his grace will flow.
You can look expectantly
toward the future – Even if you make mistakes today, God still controls
your future. Walking in the Spirit, you can live life to the fullest, unafraid of making mistakes and unconcerned that you
may stumble into some terrible circumstance that takes you out of God's control. Even when things appear to be terrible,
you can trust that God is working out some divine plan through you.
What does this mean?
· No matter how bad things get – God is still able to bring good out of it. Today, – Thank God that he
is sovereign over your past, your present, and your future. § Give God the circumstances, disasters, hindrances, hurts, and
sins from your past.
§ Give God your
current situation, your disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins of today.
§ Praise God that he can work anything in your future for godly good, that you thank
God that nothing – no disaster, no delay – is bigger that his ability to turn it into something good and godly.
thank God that nothing – no disaster, no delay – is bigger that his ability to
turn it into something good and godly. § Give God the circumstances, disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins from your past.
§ Give God your current situation, your disasters, hindrances, hurts,
and sins of today.
§ Praise God that he can work anything in your future for godly good, that you thank God that nothing –
no disaster, no delay – is bigger that his ability to turn it into something good and godly.
thank
God that nothing – no disaster, no delay – is bigger that his ability to turn it into something good and godly.
§ Give God the circumstances,
disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins from your past.
§
Give God your current situation, your disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins of today.
§ Praise God that he can work anything in your future for godly
good, that you thank God that nothing – no disaster, no delay – is bigger that his ability to turn it into
something good and godly.
thank God that nothing – no disaster, no delay – is
bigger that his ability to turn it into something good and godly. § Give God the circumstances, disasters, hindrances, hurts, and sins from your past.
§ Give God your current situation, your disasters, hindrances, hurts,
and sins of today.
§ Praise God that
he can work anything in your future for godly good, that you thank God that nothing – no disaster, no delay –
is bigger that his ability to turn it into something good and godly.
· Thank
God and let go can walk in confidence that there is nothing anyone can do to you, or
anything you can do that will be beyond the reach of God’s grace and redemption.
· Look for God’s hand – Walking by faith means you
see God’s hand even in the most difficult of circumstances. You trust his ability and his willingness to transform the
bad into godly good. God is not limited by people’s motives. In other words, it doesn’t matter why someone hurt
you, God still can transform a deliberate, mean-spirited situation into something for his good.
· What will you allow God to change? – There it is: some situation,
or event, or person in your life that, as far as you can tell, was “meant for bad.” How do you think God meant
it for good? Ask God what he wants you to do with this situation (event or person). When he answers, do it.
©
2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
