…BUT God “…meant it for good” (Gen 50:20).
The practical applications of this discovery are many. We learn that, even when others are harming us, they are, unwittingly, doing us good —and therefore we can forgive, as Joseph did! We learn that God is in control, and can be trusted even in the darkest hours. And we learn not to judge our circumstances too quickly! If Joseph had measured God’s love simply by what he could see in the here and now, he would have lost his faith long before he ever got to chapter 50!
How much more spiritually healthy we would be if we could get Joseph’s epitaph, “GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD,” engraved onto our hearts! So much of the Christian life is wrapped up in believing this truth! The ability to forgive is attached to our acceptance of Gen 50:20. The ability to cope with hardship is tied up in believing Gen 50:20. The question of why God permits evil is directly related to Gen 50:20. This is an inestimably important verse and lesson.
Even understanding the gospel itself is difficult if we do not understand and believe the message of Genesis 50:20. For skeptics sometimes ask, “If God is really all-powerful, and if God is really loving, and if Jesus was really God’s Son … how could an all-powerful God allow his own Son to be murdered so gruesomely?” The answer is the same as in Genesis 50:20, isn’t it? “[They] meant evil against [him], but God meant it for good in order to … preserve many people alive.” The story of Joseph is so much like the story of Jesus! In both cases, God allowed one man to go through tremendous suffering in order, in the end, to bring about rescue for all God’s people! This is simply the way God works. If you are God’s child, and if you suffer, God means it for good! And knowing such should keep us calm when we are the ones experiencing the suffering.
So when you struggle and when you suffer, remember Joseph. Remember that his brothers meant evil against him, “but God meant it for good.” And more than that, remember Jesus—whose suffering was more excruciating than anything you or I will endure, yet who brought about the world’s greatest good! Remember the death of Jesus, and all the good it brought about, and you will be able to sing with faith,
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face!
– Kurt Strassner