The Perspective that Changes Everything

In a wilderness wrestling, Jacob met God face-to-face. In the divine wounding, the God of his fathers had become his own.  No longer was he Jacob, but Israel.

And to Israel, God extended the same promise he had given to Abraham and Isaac.

"I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. 

A nation and a company of nations shall come from your own body. 

The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, 

and I will give the land to your offspring after you."

God was faithful to Israel.  Twelve sons were born to him.  Including a dreamer named Joseph.

A dreamer, number 11 in the line-up, and the favorite of his father.  So favored was Joseph that his father gave him a robe of many colors signifying not only his affection, but also his desire that the day would come when Joseph would step to the front of the line and take the place of the firstborn son.

Favoritism birthed hatred.  And hatred birthed conspiracy. At the end of the day, the favored son had been sold to a band of Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.      

Bought and sold.
Accused and jailed.
Forgotten and then remembered. 

The day dawned when Joseph's dream came true.  As his brothers bowed low begging for food from  the brother they didn't recognize, he thought that perhaps God's plans for him were for more than Egypt, but for his own family, for the sake of the promise.  

Joseph sent them back and forth, and back and forth from Canaan to Egypt as he waited for the right time to bring God's plan to light.

Finally, his brothers gathered round begging not only for food, but for the welfare of their father and youngest brother.  As they told of their father's grief over his supposed death, Joseph's could bear it no longer.  He wept aloud at the loss of years, the pain of his father, his longing for his brother, the compassion they now had.  And he knew the time was now.

I am Joseph whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be worried or angry with 

yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life, 

to preserve a remnant, and to keep you alive.  So it was not you who sent me here, but God. 

You meant evil against me,

but God meant it for good.

God meant it for good.  For the sake of the world, for the sake of the promise … God meant it for good.

These five little words reveal a perspective that changes everything.  

If you are in a situation today that it is so very hard, would you choose to believe that God is with you?  And would you choose to trust that God really will use it for good?  This is the perspective that changes everything.  

You have joined us for Promise, a 25-day journey from creation to the cradle.  If you would like a Family Devotional Guide with questions to discuss around the dinner table, email me and I'll send it right out to you.  If you'd also like a template for ornaments to make "Jesse Tree," let me know that too.  My email address is cynthiafin@gmail.com.

And, if you like what you're reading would you help me out by doing two things?  Would you subscribe by putting your email in the box up-and-to-the-right?  And would you share this link on Facebook or Twitter?  Thanks so much!