“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” ~ Genesis 50:20
Sovereign Father, how I pray that you would enable me to see the events of my life the way that Joseph was able to see his. The once favored son of his father was sold into slavery, unjustly accused of a crime he did not commit, and then placed in prison for thirteen years in the prime of his life. If I were in his shoes… I’m afraid to consider how I would respond if I were in his shoes. And so I pray for eyes to see your hand in every event of my life—especially in the events that don’t make sense to me now.
You know how I look back with regret and would go back and change so many decisions in my life if I could. I wonder if Joseph ever sat on the cold floor of the dungeon with his head in his hands saying, “What if… what if… what if…”? Father, I would know how he felt, since I, too, have thought on so many occasions, “If I could only go back and have that decision over.” But I can’t. And I think what you are teaching me, and showing me in the life of Joseph, is that you are sovereign over every detail, even the apparently poor choices in my life that have brought me pain, sorrow, grief and regret.
What is more, you are not only sovereign over them, but have ordained them and are using them to accomplish a purpose in and through my life that I cannot, at this moment in life, discern. While imprisoned with little hope of release, Joseph could not have imagined that you would raise him up to be the savior of the world, at least the manager of grain who would have the wisdom and ability to provide grain during a great famine. But it is true, many lives were spared through Joseph. And a huge part of that plan was his humiliation and suffering.
And Lord Jesus, you can identify with Joseph on a much deeper level that I will ever be able to. You made a decision to come to this world and endure the ultimate pain, sorrow and grief by pursuing the cross. But you experienced no regret. It was the plan—a plan that accomplished the saving of many lives, even mine.
The Pharisees, Saducees, the crowds of Jews and Roman guards all meant your crucifixion for evil, but the Father meant it for good. But I suppose even the disciples experienced the “what if” on that sad weekend of Passover when you were thought to be dead. Weren’t they depressed and wondering what they could have done to prevent such an evil event from taking place?
And then you rose and showed them and me, in glorious fashion, that our God works all things for good for those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. So if the cross was part of your plan, then certainly I can see the much smaller crosses in my life as part of your plan. So today I pray that I would have eyes to see your sovereignty, and faith to trust your perfect plan.
