Purpose and providence

More than once in our studies of Joseph so far, we've referred to "providence," and to God's purposes and His ways of accomplishing His will. But we've really just skipped across the top of that subject like a stone released from my hand, skipping across a placid pond. Let's dig deeper, shall we? I think this is a subject that perhaps we may sometimes shrug off, "Well, I trust God and have faith in Him to work out His purposes, and to accomplish what He wants my life to be."

All very, very true.
But can we truly speak of this with certainty? Can we defend our faith? I believe it's important to have the faith "of a child," but it's also important to be able to stand up for our convictions and defend them, too!
So this week, let's look at this and see what we can learn.
With me so far?
Let's dive in!

Many of us are dealing with some large obstacles or issues in our lives. When we are going through ordeals, when we are unfairly attacked, when we're lied about.....when our spouse abandons us, when our reputation is smeared, when our friends throw up their hands and walk away..... when our financial underpinnings are torn away, when we lose our job, when someone near and dear to us dies..... even as believers, it is hard for us to handle.

It may appear impossible that these things could accomplish anything good.

But they can.
The key word in that sentence up there was "appear." We see far less than what God sees.
Yes, the negative circumstances and the treachery are all due to the work of the devil and the sin of humans.  But the good that may come from these is not planned by the hand of men and women; the good that can come out of these bad things is not apparent in advance, and is not seen at all except by people of faith.
So here's our question, and it's one that unbelievers and Christians alike have asked at some point in their lives: how can God bring good out of evil?
Haven't you been asked this before?  "Why did God let that happen?" "It's mean, it's unfair, it's evil."

How can God bring good out of evil? Several commentaries that I read used the word "interpose." They mentioned that God interposes in every situation, so that he is able to bring good out of the worst that can happen in this world.

                       interpose -- to place between, to intercede, intervene. To come between other things, to assume an intervening position.

Not a word that we use too often, but I think in this sense, when we are talking about God turning evil to His good purpose, it means that God actively engages and involves Himself in the worst moments of our lives.
Wow. That's quite a thought, is it not? I actually want to see that again: God actively engages and involves Himself in the worst moments of our lives. Quite frankly, when I look at some of the heartache and evil in this world, I simply can't understand what it means for God to "interpose" in those situations. But that is because my human mind isn't capable of understanding some things:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,    so are my ways higher than your ways    and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

But we can rest assured that God, in His wisdom, knows exactly what He is doing. Isn't it comforting to know that in this world full of cruelty and sin, our God is not passive. He doesn't just "wind up the clock" as the deists used to say, and then walk away. Instead of just being an observer, our God works behind the scenes to bring about results that are for our good as His children, and are good also for His glory.

Thinking along those lines, let's look back at Joseph..... He had been envied, hated, betrayed, sold, accused falsely, and imprisoned unjustly. In Genesis 45, we see him send the Egyptian servants away as he reveals himself to his brothers -- they're terrified to meet the brother they sold into slavery more than twenty years ago!
He has them in his grasp.
He can order them killed. Or tortured. Or thrown into (or under) the jail. Or anything else he desires to have done to them..... and if anyone had a "right" (be careful, this is purely human thinking here) to be bitter, it was Joseph. It must have been awfully tempting to get even.
But this is what we read in Genesis:

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping.7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay." (Genesis 45:4-9)

Wow.
God sent me here.
The very thing used against him (their betrayal and their having sold him into slavery) results in his exaltation to second in command in Egypt; what they did results in his being able to save the brothers who betrayed him. "It was not you who sent me here, but God." What a man of faith! He mentions God five times in just six verses -- I guess he didn't want his brothers to miss the point!
He's saying, yes, I know what you did. I haven't forgotten your treachery. You wanted to hurt me, but God allowed it to happen so that I would end up a ruler in Egypt at the exact moment when you needed help -- and I would be here to save you and your descendants."
Joseph's perception of God was so great that it made the sin of his brothers look small.

Joseph's words are pretty amazing. This week let's examine this question: how does a holy God sometimes accomplish His plans for us through the deeds of evil people?