“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20a ESV)
Speak the words of Joseph as found in his story in Genesis. Speak to your problems that seem to have staged an ambush, a surprise attack, on your peace of mind! Speak to the pits of despair that have pulled you down to populate them to the point of depression or disillusionment. Speak to those places where persons are accusing you falsely and wrongly thinking they have control over your destiny. Speak to whatever has imprisoned you in locked cells where each bar represents a particular predicament in your life. Speak to the mountains of confusion, and let them know you figured things out and their threatening avalanche does not keep you from abandoning fear! Speak, saying to all these circumstances and other situations, “What you meant for evil or bad, God meant for good!” For you realize that God is developing you and God is preparing you and God is also building you up so you can bless others!
My advice to your this morning is for you to do some holding during your unfolding; the unfolding of your story. You may not see the benefits of what you are going through right now, but afterwhile ( I was preaching I would say “afterwhile again!), afterwhile you will see that God indeed meant it for good. Perhaps today would be a good day to hear the words of the hymn written by Jennie Wilson in 1906. The first verse of the hymn goes like this:
Time is filled with swift transition,
Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.
I don’t know how long your unfolding will take but maintain your hope! Embrace your faith! Rejoice in the fact that the Lord will never leave you or forsake you! The advice again: “Do some holding during your unfolding!” If you had a frown at the start of this day, I hope that your face now wears a smile. If you were down, rise up and keep walking by faith and not by sight. If you were cloaked in doubt, cast it aside, knowing that the Lord will work it out! Be blessed!
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King