50/20 Vision

Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Genesis 50:19-20

I’ve been waiting for get to this verse the whole time I’ve in Genesis. It’s taken sixteen months. I want to have a Genesis 50/20 outlook of faith on all things done against me, from the petty to the catastrophic. I want my initial reaction to injustice to be confidence in God’s redemptive power instead of anguish.

There is no evil that wins in my life if I press in to seek redemption. No evil done against me takes God by surprise. Ever. He saw it ahead of time and planned long ago how He would wield authoritative power to transform it from a ‘Calvary’ to a ‘resurrection.’ Believing this is always my dilemma when it appears my life has been taken from me. This is the battle for faith.

Does this mean that I am spared the pain of betrayal? Does this mean that crying out from the pit as Joseph did is spiritually unbecoming to God?  Not at all.  Jesus cried so deeply that the stress caused his body to sweat drops of blood. Grief is to be acknowledged, felt, and explored.  But underlying all of that can be an unshakeable trust in God, the One that does not let evil have the last word.

If two scriptures could marry, consider wedding together Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28. The first explains why the latter is true. Because God uses any evil done against me for my good, all things will work together for good to those who love God.

At this very moment, you may be a victim of evil scheming. The perpetrator looks all-powerful. Your present circumstances predict a bleak future. This is the time to put on the eyeglasses of faith. A Genesis 50/20 vision can be the lens through which you view your circumstances. You can choose to believe that this is not the end, but God’s doorway to a resurrection.

Joseph was a dreamer ~ then a slave ~ then a prisoner ~ but finally a ruler. The one who lived this story is the one who preached to his perpetrators, “You meant evil, but God meant it for good.” He realized this truth after his deliverance.  Oh, but Jesus predicted His own resurrection long before His death. Redemption ruled His perspective in the middle of His darkest times. It can also rule mine.

I cry but I don’t despair. Permeate every part of me with responses of faith. Amen