Genesis 50:17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
I tend to hold onto Genesis 50:20 with both hands: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good….” I truly feel that this is the case with so much in life. Even in these verses, Joseph’s brothers intend…maybe not harm but definitely deceit. Their message is a lie. Yet God uses the situation for good.
Genesis 50:18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
I do think we need to keep Isaiah 55:8 in mind, too, though: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” God’s mind doesn’t work like ours. When we think good, we think reward, prize, positive. God’s good is eternal. He thinks the saving of many lives.
Genesis 50:19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?
Precious Savior, Thank You that You can and will and do use all things for our good and Your glory. Thank You that Your definition of good is eternal and far beyond what we can imagine. Help us to trust that You are using all things for our good and Your glory, that anything intended to harm, You intend and use for good. Help us to trust. Amen.
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.
Have a blessed day.