A new perspective
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.”
Joseph’s brothers were scared out of there minds. They were scared that Joseph who was in the position of authority that he had was going to repay them for all the evil that they had done. I’ll be honest; my flesh sayss that’s right boys now you’re gonna pay. But Joseph looked at them and said, Listen the past is the past. Yes, you meant to harm me.(They really meant to kill him, but Reuben stopped them.) But, God stepped in and turned my situation upside down. Don’t you love those, “But, God moments.”
We were thrown out of the Garden; But, God…
We were being chased by the Egyptian army; But, God…
The king threw us in the fire; But, God…
Jesus was nailed to the cross; But, God…
We were thrown in prison for preaching; But, God…
My own But, God moment came on May 7th, 1988. I had a car wreck and was expected to die; But, God… My story is not over yet. God is still using me for His glory. If, you would like to read some of the things God has done for me click here-Yes, You Can
Everyone has But, God moments. They are defining moments in our life when we go through an event where we see the hand of God picking us up and pushing us forward. There are 2 ways that we can respond to these events. 1)We can acknowledge God for the work He has done in our life, 2)We can be resentful towards God that He allowed these things to happen.
The best reaction is the first; however, it is the most contrary to who we are. Praising God and thanking Him for the difficult times we go through is not a natural human tendency. It usually takes time for us to see that God has taken our bad and turned it into good.
I’m sure that when Joseph was a slave(his brothers sold him as a slave) the only thing on his mind was finding and killing them. But, over the years as Joseph thought about it he could see God working in His life to bring him to the point that he was now at.
Jumping to a quick conclusion about situations in our life usually leads to heartache; many times instead of immediately reacting to a situation we need to step back, and ask God for wisdom. When we get Godly wisdom to look at our situation then we will see thing more clearly.
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Father, I thank You for allowing the hard things in my life, and I ask that as I face these hard times that You would give me the strength and the wisdom to look to You and get a new perspective. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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The above image can be found at:
Yes, You Can Ministry 