Name It, Then Trust Him (Genesis 50:20)

Following up

Earlier in the week someone had asked about dealing with past hurts, and DeWayne didn't want to brush it off. So he went back to Joseph.

The story

Sold by his brothers, falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, forgotten in prison by a man he helped, Joseph did nothing to deserve any of it. Years later, as Egypt's second in command, he tells his frightened brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to save many lives."

Two weavers, one cloth

DeWayne pictures two sets of hands working with the same thread: the brothers, Potiphar, and the jailer weaving harm, and God weaving purpose. God's purpose wins. Notice that the good wasn't for Joseph's comfort. It was for many lives. Joseph names the wrong and then leaves the judgment to God.

The hardest question

One participant asked why God would allow a child to be abused. DeWayne didn't pretend to have a neat answer. Evil comes from sin and the enemy, not God. God's ways are higher than ours, and He doesn't waste even that pain.

Try this

• Read Genesis 37-50 this week.
• Name one hurt honestly before God, and ask Him to show you how He can use it.