When Things Seem to Go Wrong

For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.” Genesis 40:15

Joseph had lived an exemplary life. He had made a fortune for his employer and had resisted the sexual advances of his boss’s wife and stayed true to God. But what was his reward? A prison sentence with no hope of parole. Since when does the high road lead over a cliff? Ever since the entry of evil into the world. And as long as Satan ‘prowls around like a roaring lion’ (1 Peter 5:8), he will wreak havoc among God’s people. He will lock preachers like Paul in prisons. He will exile pastors like John on remote islands. He will afflict the friends of Jesus, like Lazarus, with diseases. But his strategies always backfire. The imprisoned Paul wrote the Epistles. The banished John saw heaven. The cemetery of Lazarus became a stage upon which Christ performed one of His greatest miracles. The prison in which they placed Joseph became his stepping-stone to the palace for which God had destined him. Looking back, he could say, ‘But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive’ (Genesis 50:20). So look for God’s purposes in the reversals of your life, and you’ll begin to see them as stepping-stones to blessing. ‘The Lord shall not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the thoughts and intents of His mind’ (Jeremiah 30:24). God will use the circumstances you are in today to strengthen you, draw you closer to Himself, and accomplish His will for your life.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me remember that when things go wrong it is not the end of Your plans for me and to trust You in the outcome. In Jesus’ Name, Amen