A Question of Intent

There are a lot of good biblical texts to dwell on, to stand by, to live on. "God loved the world in this way; He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Always popular. "But God, rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:4-7). See? You could dwell on a passage like that for a long, long time. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor 5:17-19). So many wonderful components -- the old is passed, being new, that God reconciles us to Himself, being forgiven, sharing that with others -- so much good stuff.

One that "leads the pack" for me is not likely one that comes up often in your mind. I practically live here.

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (Gen 50:20)

"Really," I can hear some say, "there? Why?"

We can all likely agree that one of the very best is Romans 8:28. The comfort that God causes all things to work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose is hard to overstate. But ... we often seem to handle this one with care. We qualify it. "God works it for good for those who are called, not for those who are not called." Or something like it. Often if we're handed this verse in the midst of a difficulty, we will simply set it aside until we can feel better. We also seem to think of it as God's "Plan B". "Well, God had good plans for good things for me, but people or something else got in the way and now God has to figure out how to use this for good because He didn't originally intend this."

That's why I live on Genesis 50:20. This text takes into account the bad and the good. In this passage Joseph's unkind brothers who intended to kill him but relented and "merely" sold him into slavery are begging him not to do them harm (the harm they clearly think they deserve). Joseph calms their fears. "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." Notice how this does two things. On one hand, it clearly acknowledges and affirms evil. It isn't a rosy, "God will work everything out" kind of theme. There is no question; they intended evil. It doesn't let them off the hook. It doesn't say, "That's okay; you didn't mean to be bad." It says they actually did. On the other hand, it clearly acknowledges God. He knew of their plan. He superintended their plan. He used their evil to produce His good. Think about that! He used their evil to produce His good! He could have prevented them from doing it at all. I'm quite certain that the reason they did not kill him in the first place was God's intervention. He could have prevented it all. He did in the case of Abimelech (Gen 20:6). So this wasn't God's "Plan B." This was God's intent. And His intent was for good.

I need to know that. Always. When people intend evil against me, I need to know that God intends good. When bad things happen, I need to know that God isn't "mopping up", but that He always had this in hand. When unpleasant times come -- and they always will -- I need to know that God is planning good in it -- always. No Plan B. No cleaning up a mess. No quick action on God's part where He manages to pull success from the jaws of defeat. It is always in His plan even while there are always evil intentions. Evil is not absolved. But God is not surprised. That's the kind of God that provides me hope in difficult times.