God Meant It For Good

From: The Purpose Driven Life Ministries

Genesis 50:20 "Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve His present end, the survival of many people."

The life of Joseph was anything but peaceful. It was filled with youthful folly, broken dreams, and the mean-spirited actions of others. 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 name. 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 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.

There it is: some situation, or event, or person in your life who, as far as you can tell, "meant it 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.