When God’s Plan Finally Comes Into View

Genesis 45:5-11

⁵And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. ¹⁰You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’

(ESV)

Thought:
An event like this can often be lost on us, especially when we are familiar with the story, we know how it ends. It is a great skill to sit and comprehend what it would be like in the moment. To witness your brother you have thought was dead for the last 20 years to be standing there before you as the governor of Egypt.

This is a story for the ages, something few people would ever believe were it not true. How could such a story be possible? That this son of Jacob, could be sold into slavery, thrown in jail, and all of it be used to elevate him to such a position. Well as Joseph had realised and inevitably helped him to continue in obedience to God throughout it all. Was that he realised God could use the acts of men for his own means.

This was all the plan of God to bring about salvation. Just as God worked through the actions of many evil men throughout history to lead his own son to die upon a cross, so that many might be saved.

So too in our lives, purposes are being carried out in our lives, as we do things and things happen to us. God is working his salvation in this world through us. It can be hard to imagine but understand it will be just like Joseph and his brothers, they could not see what God was doing, but then one day it was revealed to them and it blew their minds.

Don’t discount what God may be doing at this very moment, it may not seem like much, just like reading this passage can be underwhelming in comparison to experiencing it. But sometimes we shall see the plan of God in our lives, we shall be able to look back, see it and sit there in wonder. Knowing only God could have orchestrated something like that.

Many of you probably already know this, for many of you it will just seem like another reminder of something you are not really sure will come to pass. So too Joseph waited for decades to see God’s plan work out before his eyes, but when it did it was spectacular. Know that that day also awaits you, as you shall see the glorious plan of God in some way unravelled before your very eyes.

Reflection:
As I go about my day, I need to remember that God is doing far more than I can presently see. It is easy to become discouraged when circumstances seem confusing or painful, but Joseph's story reminds me that God's purposes often take years to unfold. Today I need to apply this by trusting God's faithfulness in the small and ordinary moments of life, believing that He is working even when I cannot understand what He is doing. Instead of demanding immediate answers, I can rest in the knowledge that His plan is wiser, bigger, and better than anything I could imagine.

Prayer:
Father, help me trust You when I cannot see what You are doing. Give me patience to wait upon Your timing and faith to believe that You are working all things according to Your good purposes. Help me remain obedient in the present, knowing that one day I will see more clearly how You have been guiding and sustaining me all along. Amen.