Today I was reading Genesis 45. I read the entire passage and I was amazed by the acts of God. This particular chapter is where Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. The same brothers who betrayed him by selling him as a slave. He was later imprisoned for 13 years for a Crime he did not commit. When his brothers realised who Joseph was, they became afraid. The guilt of their past had finally caught up with them. However, Joseph made a statement that was mind blowing. After he wept so loud in an uncontrollable manner, he exclaimed, “do not be angry with yourselves, for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you”.

8. “So then. It was not you who sent me here, but God”.

Amongst life’s mysteries is suffering; why do we go through what we go through? If God is real and if He is loving as we say He is, then why? The quest to know the meaning of life or its suffering is prevalent in the heart of man. I can bear witness to this in my own life but one thing I know to be true is that the God I have gotten to know over the years has allowed me to go through trials and tribulations. Yet each time I have looked back with my victory crown on, without fail, His footsteps were right next to mine. He never left me nor forsook me even when I was convinced He had.

I personally resent suffering and I am sure I am not the only one! Yet some of my greatest lessons in this mystery called life have been birthed through the trials and tribulations He permitted for me to go through.
*After reading Joseph’s revelation regarding the suffering he endured, my mind cast back to Abraham and the promise given to him by God.*

Whilst Abraham and Sarah were still waiting for their promised child, although God promised them that He would grant their heart desires, there was suffering attached to the promise. God told His friend, Abraham, that his descendants would be slaves in Egypt for 400 years. The bible did not even record Abraham’s response to this. Oh my goodness if that was me, God wouldn’t have heard the last of it! “But why? You are God, You can do anything, can’t You change it, I thought You loved me?” The bible says Abraham had faith in God, meaning he trusted Him, His Sovereignty; therefore Abraham was considered a friend of God. So it made perfect sense when Joseph said, ‘God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. What you intended for evil against me, God turned it around for good’ (paraphrased). Before Joseph was born, it was part of God’s plan for him to end up in Egypt.

My question is, what trials and tribulations are you going through? Why don’t you ask God to reveal to you why He has permitted you to endure it? Perhaps there is a bigger perspective or purpose far greater than your current discomfort. Like Abraham, will we trust God even when suffering is attached to the promise? After all, when it is all said and done, it is His purpose that will prevail. Why? Because He is the Potter and we are the clay, but rest assured that He is a good Father and His intentions for you are good.

This is why we can fully trust Him with the whole of our hearts even when the storms of life persist. He is the same God who said He would not give us a stone when we ask for bread nor will He give us a snake when we ask for fish. Jesus said, in this life we will face troubles (He did not hide the truth from us), but He also said, take heart for He has overcome the world. He is a good God, a good Father, this is why we can say ‘I trust You’ even though we cannot always comprehend His ways.

Remain blessed

Love Mav

How God Uses Trials