He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave. – Psalm 105:16-17

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 22, 2019): Psalm 105

There is some tension around the idea that both the good and the bad might have a purpose in our lives – and that God might be the author of both. We don’t want to believe that. When we think of God, we crave his blessing. Maybe, amid our disobedience, we can be brought to the idea that God allows bad things to happen. But is it possible that God, at times, needs us to go through hard experiences? Is it possible that there are tough times in our lives that have nothing to do with good and evil, obedience and disobedience, or us actively turning our back on God? Is it even possible that there are tough times that aren’t even neutral experiences, that God let happen, or let through, but that he caused to happen because, at some point in the future, there might be a positive effect?

I think that there are places in the Bible where the writers argue for a yes to these questions; sometimes God allows bad experiences to dominate our lives, not because of sin but because God is trying to accomplish something. And the terrible part that we miss is that it might not even be in our lives that we see the conclusion at which God is aiming. Consider the story that David is alluding to in this short section of Psalm 105. God brings a famine onto the land of Canaan, a land that he has promised to the descendants of Abraham. At the time, it was Jacob who was living in Canaan. Now, there is no doubt that much was happening in the family of Jacob that was against the will of God. But it was not necessarily sin that caused the famine because God had already positioned Joseph in Egypt as God’s response to the coming famine.

Joseph himself had suffered much. Consider his story. He was sold into slavery by his brothers as an act of mercy for not killing him. Joseph rose in power in Egypt only to be falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to prison where everyone forgot him. Helping a friend, predicting that he would beat the charges against him, resulted only in Joseph being forgotten one more time. All of this so that he might be raised up at the right time historically and be used to save not only Egypt, but his family as well.

Joseph understood the importance of his story. In response to the request of his brothers for forgiveness after the death of their Father Jacob, Joseph spoke these words, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:19-20).    

Yet, the story wasn’t over. Israel would suffer again, be raised up by Moses, be led through times of deprivation in the desert, all so that they could become a nation of God on the earth. It seems in the length of the story that God caused bad so that he could orchestrate good.

We all experience the negative of life. But even in the worst moments, we need to remember that God has a plan, and part of our problem is that we cannot see the whole story, and we need to be willing to simply place our trust in him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 106