Good Monday morning! This morning I'm going to make one of those assumptions that doesn't involve a lot of risk on my part. I am going to assume that somewhere or sometime in your life you have faced a difficult, perhaps even a traumatic, situation. Like I said, not much of a reach there. The verse selected to begin the Hour of Power devotional this morning struck me. Genesis 50:20: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." We recognize what Joseph said to his brothers as they stood quaking in pools of their own sweat after finding out the one they had sinned against was now what we would call the chief operations officer of the mighty Egyptian nation. The power of this verse, however, was not only in the context, which is a wonderful tale of forgiveness and mercy, but also as a standalone statement.
Take your difficult or traumatic situation, the one you thought of when I mentioned it as my assumption, and speak that verse to the world or the devil, whichever you think caused that situation. Often we kind of wonder if God didn't send a situation to test us, but this verse seems to make it clear that the intention to harm us in any situation does not come from God. Instead, God's intention is for our own good and to accomplish more of His great plan - the saving of many lives.
Recall the story of Job. He suffered much harm, but all of it came from Satan. God allowed Satan to harm Job, but only in limited ways. The Bible is clear that God was always in control of Job's situation. We read in Genesis that God carefully and perfectly controlled Joseph's situation as well. A woman of the world even levelled a serious (and false) accusation against Joseph resulting in his imprisonment for many years. I'm sure from the dark cell in the prison, Joseph could not see his future position as administrator of all Egypt.
In the same way, we cannot see our bright future in the darkness around us. A traumatic situation can be as simple as going to work this morning, or as serious as the death of a loved one. In all of these things, God is in control and will bring good from the worst of situations. Again, when we are in one of those situations, staring hard into the darkness with tears streaming from our eyes, we cannot see the good. Jesus reaches down at those times and turns our eyes to Him, the light of the world.
Thank God for the Light; who has come into this dark world!
Bucky
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