2/21/13 by Lee Cook

"You intended to harm me, but God meant it for good" Genesis 50:20

Being in a relationship with God allows us to have a perspective that is foreign to those who don't know the power of God. The Apostle Paul says, "and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28). Christians have the blessing of a larger perspective that brings the suffering in this world into focus. God isn't the source of suffering, but He works in the midst of suffering to bring redemption and healing.

Joseph is a powerful example of this kind of perspective.  His brothers sold him into slavery, Potipher's wife wrongly accused him of rape, he was imprisoned for years, and he spent much of his life separated from his home and his family. In all that, Joseph never lost sight that God could bring blessings out of all the suffering he endured. At the end of his life, he told his brothers not to be mad at themselves for selling him into slavery, because "you intended to harm me, but God meant it for good."

You might be in the midst of incredible suffering, and I can't explain why suffering happens.  But God's love and grace bring our suffering into a new focus, and in that new perspective we can see God working in the midst of suffering to bring blessing.