Genesis 50:19-21

“Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” vs. 20

The whole cycle of the Hebrew ancestral stories comes to a warm and fuzzy end with Joseph’s words to his brothers. Not only does he offer them mercy and forgiveness, but he tells them that even the brokenness of their relationship has been used by God for good.

Humans have long known the great truth behind the words of Genesis. This is how life works. The most destructive acts of our malicious behavior have had good and glorious consequences. It happens again and again, an endless cycle of death and resurrection that can even be seen in the course of an individual life.

There have likely been occasions when each of us have experienced the end of a dream, a time when our coat of many colors has been ripped from us and we’ve been left with rags. Those are awful moments–it never feels good to have our dreams dashed. But we also know that this is not the end of our story, and sometimes the next chapters are better than anything we might have imagined. We might like to do without the pain in life, but the truth is that it’s all part of the story–and in God the best is always yet to come.

Thought for the Day: My experiences of pain followed by gain.