For much of Joseph’s life, he must have had a hard time believing that God was in charge of everything. After all, when he was just a teenager, his brothers had sold him as a slave to a group of Ishmaelites because they were jealous of their father’s favoritism towards him and because they were irritated by his pride. Joseph eventually ended up in Egypt, sold to Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard. He was then thrown into prison because Potiphar’s wife lied, insisting that Joseph had tried to rape her. You can’t get much lower than that.

Now, we don’t have to end up in such desperate circumstances to wonder why terrible things happen to us or to our loved ones, do we? Sometimes, doesn’t the suffering in our lives make us wonder if God is really there or if He really cares?

Well, because God gave him the ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph had become second-in-command over all of Egypt by the time the events of this passage took place. As a result, when a famine hit the region and Joseph’s family had to come to Egypt to buy food, he was in a position to keep them alive. It took years for God’s plan to develop, but in verses 5 and 8, Joseph could finally see that everything had indeed worked out for the best, to make sure that God’s people were blessed.

That’s a good reminder for all of us. It may take years for us to get a glimpse of how God’s plan for our lives fits together. In fact, we may never understand why we have to undergo certain kinds of suffering.

But there are some big lessons we can learn from this passage. First, in His power and control of all things, God is able to bring the greatest good even out of the greatest evil. That is, after all, the same lesson we learn from the cross of Christ. Because of the greatest injustice ever done, because a perfectly sinless Man was condemned and crucified, all who trust in Him are set free from the penalty our sins deserve.

But Jesus’ death and resurrection made something else possible for all of us, something else we see in today’s passage: the ability to forgive those who have hurt us, just as Jesus forgave those who crucified Him, and just as Joseph forgave his brothers who sold him into slavery. Because we know we are sinners, and because we know God is ultimately in charge of everything that happens to us, we can be patient and kind and even loving toward our enemies. But that’s possible only if we have the sort of close relationship Joseph had with God, only if we have been filled with the Spirit of Christ. Let’s draw close to Him in trust today.

Genesis 45:1-8

Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.