Life is full of ups and
downs, highs and lows, good times and bad times. Our own lives attest to this,
as well as the Scriptures. Throughout all of history, mankind has been in
constant flux and change. Sometimes we have good days, moments of glory, and
seasons of flourishing. And then, without any real warning or apparent reason,
we have those bad days, moments of shame and regret, and long seasons of
dryness. There doesn't even seem to be a rhyme or reason to it all.
In light of this, some may
even question, "How can a good and omnipotent God allow all these bad
things to happen to good people?" I would ask in response, "Have you read
the whole story? Or did you stop after the bad part? Keep going, because my
hunch is, it gets better. Our God is going to turn the ugly into something
beautiful. And I want to be there to see it when he does."
Today’s Scripture
reminds us of this roller coaster nature of life. How quickly it can flip from
wonderful to awful and back to wonderful, and so on again and again. But
through all of this, God is working his eternal, unchanging good. Joseph
reminds his brothers of this attribute of God in his famous declaration in
Genesis 50:20 -"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Joseph's life
had gone from good to bad to good so many times we almost lose count.
Even at the very end of Genesis, we see the Egyptians honoring Israel with a burial
of much pomp and ceremony and glory. Yet, in the very next chapter, or
in this case the beginning of Exodus, we see this same Egyptian nation reviling, shaming, and debasing the Israelites. How quickly things
changed.
Again, we see the shift
from glory to shame and back again when we look at the story of Peter in
Matthew 16 and 17. One moment Peter is the rock Christ will build his
church on, the next moment Jesus is making his actions akin to the work of the
Satan, and then in the next chapter Peter basks in the glory of Jesus during the
transfiguration. What a whirlwind week that must have been for Peter.
Can you relate? Do
you have weeks, days, or even moments like that? Do you feel bounced back and
forth between joy and sadness, hope and despair, fullness and emptiness? Or
maybe it's a more general sense that things are going right or not so right? Or
maybe you have just had some major tragedy in your life. Something you don't
know if you will ever recover from. To you I say, I’m sorry. Jesus is sorry and
he weeps with you. But don't stop reading. Don't give up. The story is not
over. Take encouragement and hope from today's reading (it's actually a theme
throughout all of Scripture). Jesus can take what was meant for harm, what
might seem totally bad in our eyes, and use it for good. He can make it into
something beautiful. Stay with him. Whatever chapter your life may be in right
now, stay with him. Psalm 21: 7 reminds us that a "[man] who trusts in the
Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High, he will not be shaken."
Through all the ups and downs of life, and all the different chapters we go
through, we can be confident in the author and perfecter of our lives. We
know how the story ends, and it's a good one.
- Mary Matthias
How did God speak to you in Scripture today? Click here to share your reflections on God's word or read past posts. We'd love to hear from you.
Thank you Mary
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