“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. – Genesis 45:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 14, 2012): Genesis 45

The ancient Hebrew belief is that all things, both the good and the bad, come from the hands of God. The Flip Wilson trademark expression “the Devil made me do it” wouldn’t have occurred to them.  God was all powerful. And if we truly accept that one truth, then we must also accept that whatever situation we find ourselves in – God could have stopped it. And God has the power to move us away from the current situation we find ourselves in - even if we were the ones that placed ourselves in that situation. And if he doesn’t move us, well, he must have a reason.

Joseph had been kidnapped by his own brothers, sold into slavery, had been made the head of a household, and then accused of a sexual sin that he had not committed. He was thrown into jail and, there, he was forgotten. And finally, it seemed that God had intervened in his life and lifted him out of the situation he had been living through and made him second to Pharaoh as the leader of Egypt. But the realization was that God could have done rescued him  at any time, but he waited, leaving Joseph to question what the rest of his life would hold.

The truth was that God knew something that Joseph didn’t. All of the dreams that Joseph had received were true, but the Joseph that received the dreams was not the one that would be able to walk through the door and fulfill the position. There had to be a change in Joseph.

As Joseph stood before his brothers, he was able to look back at his entire life up until that point, and he recognized that what had happened had happened to shape him into the man that God needed in Egypt. It was with a deep honesty that he could say to his brothers that they weren’t the ones that had sold him into slavery. That had been God, and as weird as it sounds, God had sold him into slavery so that all of his dreams could come true.

It is a perspective change that we all need. God, who is powerful, has allowed some things into our lives so that our dreams could come true. Like Joseph, maybe we need to learn humility or maybe a deeper understanding of how our actions affect others. The things in our life that we wish weren’t there - God has allowed to be there - and he has allowed it because there is something else that we need to learn. And, it is something that we need to learn so that we can become the people that God intended us to be – and so that our dreams can come true.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 46