You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Genesis 50:20

Ok, if you’ve been reading along since Saturday, you’ll know by now that I’m fascinated lately with the concept of “but God”. We can blame the SAT Prep that I’m doing with high school students for the emphasis on conjunctions, BUT I think it’s less about language and more about the miracles that happen when God is on the scene.

Today, let’s take a look at one of the most famous “but God” moments in the Bible – Joseph’s amazingly merciful and forgiving words to His brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God…”.

You see, earlier in Genesis we read the tale of Joseph’s father Jacob and his unintentional marriage to Leah after her father pulls a wedding night “wife swap” on him, followed his intentional marriage to her sister Rachel, whom he truly loved, followed by his wife-influenced marriages to their two handmaids. From these four marriages, Jacob gains 12 sons, but his favorite is Joseph, Rachel’s oldest son born in Jacob’s old age (Genesis 29:18; 37:3).

Needless to say, Joseph’s 10 older brothers were not fond of having their next-to-youngest brother gain their father’s favor above them. One day, they devise a plan to kill him, which is altered to a plan to sell him into slavery, which they do. And off Joseph goes to Egypt where his story involves success as a houseslave followed by false witness against him, followed by imprisonment, followed by immense success and promotion to the Pharaoh’s righthand man. It’s too much for a post, but you really must read it sometime (Genesis 37-50).

And all of that leads us to Joseph’s “but God” moment years later when his brothers come to Egypt during a time of famine to buy grain – which Joseph is responsible for distributing. When he reveals his identity to his brothers, they are afraid – they did plot to kill him and then sold him into slavery after all. He certainly has all of the power and position to kill them as they had intended to do to him or sell them off to slavery, which they did to him.

BUT GOD…

Joseph recognized that though his brothers intended him harm, God had used everything he gone through for good. And not just Joseph’s good – I mean Joseph had some real low points in the years he was enslaved and imprisoned – but the good of all people through his work saving grain and distributing it. Through Joseph and his positioning, God saved the Egyptian civilization and the 12 tribes of Israel as well as people from neighboring nations and clans who came to buy grain.

Sweet friend, sometimes the principalities of darkness influence other people to cause us harm; sometimes the effects of living in a fallen world cause us harm (cancer, tornados, financial crisis…).

BUT GOD…

God is constantly working behind the scenes to bring all things about for good, to save many lives through our faithfulness and obedience to him. Dear heart, for all the bad things that Joseph went through, he never lost faith in God. The Bible tells us repeatedly in Genesis that God was with Joseph and Sibling, God is with you too. He is faithful to turn any intended harm to good. Keep the faith. In time, your “but God” moment will come.

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