Life Verse - Part 3

Genesis 50:20

Okay...I am skipping from the beginning of the book of Genesis to the end.  Obviously there is tons of important stuff in between--Cain kills Abel, Noah builds an ark, Abraham and Sarah leave home to start a new destiny, etc.  

But I want to point to an amazing statement made by Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Israel, after he had been sold into slavery by his brothers.  Joseph keeps doing the right thing and gets shafted over and over.  But eventually he comes out on top--2nd in command over Egypt. When his brothers come to him--starving and in need of food--and discover that the brother they sold was the one in charge of the food bank, they were freaking out.

So here is the verse--Genesis 50:20.  "As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil."  

I think it took Joseph a while to come to that conclusion.  I suspect that during those times he was sitting in jail--wrongly accused--he wasn't thinking such gracious thoughts.  I suspect you have to live a while to come to the conclusion Joseph eventually arrive.  

In the midst of life's  injustices, struggles, disappointments, illnesses, etc. all we can see is loss. But over time it is amazing how God can take what others intend for evil and redeem it into something good.

How do I know this?  I need look no further than my own story.  I recently wrote a book called "Wrecked" that chronicles a defining moment in my life when a really bad decision I made was redeemed by my dad in a way that later led to my conversion.

When you are neck deep in a swamp filled with alligators, remember the story of Joseph.  And remember that God has an amazing track record of turning life's lemons into lemon-aid.