READING
REFLECTION
God Works It Out
by David Thompson
It is interesting how God takes care of situations, and more so, how He puts people and situations into motion before the results of God's actions are even seen. It is no different in today's reading. It tells about the family of a man named Israel. As you might remember, this family is talked about a lot in Genesis chapters 37-50. I don't have absolute proof, but having thirteen chapters written about you is one of the longest narratives in the Bible.
In the story, we learn that there were twelve brothers, and after some negative situations with their brother Joseph, things started happening to fulfill the provision of taking care of His people during a great famine. Joseph was thrown into a pit and they wanted to kill him, but one of the older brothers intervened. It happened that a caravan of merchants came by where this story was happening. The brothers sold Joseph to them, and he was taken to Egypt and sold.
Ultimately after a lot of God's intervention on people and situations that are too numerous to detail here, Joseph becomes Pharaoh's right-hand man and is put in charge of all food production. The famine hits and Israel's sons (except for Benjamin) came to Egypt looking to buy food. More miraculous things happened, and the whole family and nation moved to Egypt. They were well taken care of until Joseph died and a new pharaoh came to power. Due to this, the Israelites were made to be slaves (verses 6-7).
Verses 8-14 tell of the rough treatment God's people had to endure, but God was still present and heard his people's groanings. It had been 400 years since they moved Egypt, but things were changing for the better as God's raised up Moses and Aaron, who would set God's people free.
God is with you today in the good times and the bad times. He promises in Romans 8:28 that "All things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." And He further promises that "He will never leave you, nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5 KJV) God said it, so it is a fact that no matter what we are going through, He will bring good out of the situation. Hopefully His plan will become apparent in less than 400 years, but you can be sure that it will be fulfilled even if you don't see the result in your lifetime. Count on it.
God is good, all of the time!
PRAYER
Dear God, thank you for today's lesson and help us to be confident in your love and compassion for us. We are your dear children, and you are our good father. As we are praying this prayer, bring to mind a time in each of our lives where something seemed hopeless and you intervened. Show us how what we were, or are, facing was made better or more manageable because of you. Thank-you for your Bible with all of the promises that help us live our lives confidently and expectantly. Amen!
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