When God’s Plans Become Known
Daily Old Testament Reading: Genesis 44-47
Daily Focus Passage: Genesis 45
Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers. I am sure this moment was a great shock to his siblings and probably brought fear to them. I imagine the brothers believed he would take vengeance on them because of their harmful intent toward him in the past. Yet, Joseph gazes at this moment through God's lens. Joseph sees the hand of God at work throughout his life and how the Lord orchestrated these events for his purpose and glory. Joseph’s words should encourage us today to trust the plans of God and rejoice when he makes them known.
GOD PREPARED A WAY
God worked to pave a pathway for his work in the life of Jacob and his family. This work occurred through the difficulties Joseph faced in life and the prominence he gained in Egypt. The result was part of God’s promise to Abraham and then to Abraham’s descendants. When Joseph was sold into slavery or cast into prison, the path seemed horrific, yet God was using each moment to create a way for his purpose to continue even when pain existed, and Joseph could not see the ultimate plan.
Believers today must take a lesson from Joseph’s life. When we come to the place of trusting Christ, we must be completely on board and trust him through every moment of life. We cannot see what lies ahead or understand what the Lord is up to, preparing a way for his will to occur. So how can you take steps to grow in trusting that God is using the moments in life to prepare a way to carry out his will?
GOD HELD A REMNANT
God’s plan existed to keep a remnant thriving despite the world's trying times. The remnant included the individuals who remained faithful to him and were part of his covenant blessing. The remnant did not mark the majority, but the remnant existed as the ones God continued to work in and through. The remnant was the faithful ones that lived out in faith as the Lord prepared the way for his will to become accomplished.
Today, many people profess Christ, and many people reject Christ. Yet, a remnant exists of individuals who lived sold out to the Lord and trusted him to work in every moment of their life. The remnant experiences the work of the Lord as he provides for them and sustains them. How are you encouraged to live as part of the remnant in the knowledge that the Lord provides for and sustains you?
GOD DELIVERED
Joseph’s family faced certain death from hunger without the intervention of the Lord. The Lord delivered the family by placing Joseph and using him in a position to make a difference and to provide a dynamic to become rescued from the famine. God worked through Joseph as an agent to deliver the people from death and fulfill their great hunger so they may have life.
God continues to be in the business of deliverance. We all face a spiritual famine that leads to death, and nothing in our work or ways will ever overcome the famine. Yet, in Christ, the Lord provided a deliverer who would provide an avenue to escape spiritual hunger and death. The Lord offers eternal life through Christ, the Deliverer, and fills the longings of life that the world cannot fill. Where are you looking for deliverance from the spiritual famine in your life? Is Christ your deliverer?
