Category: Leadership (Page 3 of 22)

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…

Thus Joseph assured his brothers, after the death of their father, that the evil they did to him all those years ago accomplished the saving of thousands and thousands of lives, both Egyptian and Hebrew.

Such a hopeful conclusion to the wild story of Joseph’s life in Egypt, from slave to prisoner to the heights of power (Genesis 50).

You and I never know. Our stories are not finished. I don’t want to sound naive, sometimes evil is just evil, and I cannot fathom any good that might come from such depths. But other days, what appears terrible to me might hide God’s hand molding it toward my good.

While often challenging, I choose to hope in the God of hope.

Week four of reading the Bible cover to cover.

The chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him (Genesis 40:23).

Sometimes I feel forgotten. Sometimes I am forgotten. The world rushes past, others focus on what’s in front of them, and I sit forgotten. We all experience these times.

Joseph did all he could to be remembered. He served the prison warden, he interpreted the cupbearer’s dream, and he asked for his help in return. Please remember me! The ungrateful cupbearer forgot as soon as the doors of the prison shut behind him.

For two more years Joseph sat in prison, waiting, wondering if anyone thought of him. But God, the maestro, brought Joseph back to the mind of the cupbearer, leading eventually to the salvation of Egypt, and Joseph’s family, and the nation of Israel.

God doesn’t forget. God waits, and we wait as a result. Stay ready, because the remembering will come.