When Life Hurts
Have you had someone betray you and deeply hurt you?
One of the most powerful verses in God’s word relative to our reactions to that offence is this;Genesis 50:20 “…YOU MEANT EVIL AGAINST ME: BUT GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD.” (NKJV)
Is it possible? When others are deliberately doing things to hurt you … that God is permitting this (which seems evil) to happen to you and He is really intending it for your good! That is what that verse says!
God spoke that verse through Joseph. Do you remember all that had happened to him? As a teenager, his older brothers had turned against him and sold him into slavery. (The greatest hurts you or I have felt have been when members of our own family have not understood us or have done things that seemed to be deliberately designed to hurt us.)
Though wrongfully enslaved in the home of the Egyptian, Potiphar, Joseph maintained a good spirit and earned his master’s approval. (A bitter, complaining or vindictive spirit never earns respect and love from others.) He earned a place of authority and leadership in Potiphar’s home and business.
When tempted and pressured to sin with Potiphar’s wife, Joseph remained true to God and was again wrongfully sent to prison. All that he had worked for and the reputation he had built over those years in Potiphar’s home (about 10 years) were destroyed by an evil woman who lied about him and deliberately tried to hurt him.
Can you imagine the despondency you would be tempted to feel if you were in these circumstances? Many would feel pushed to the point of suicide. Yet, Joseph maintained a good spirit … even in prison. His faith in God and the Lord’s leadership gave Joseph peace in the midst of trouble. Joseph had such a good attitude that the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of the other prisoners.
When Joseph did a favor for one of Pharaoh’s servants, that man promised to help Joseph … but he seemed to forget that promise. Joseph spent 2 more years as a prisoner (remember, he was there because he had done right, not wrong) before Pharaoh’s servant remembered Joseph and helped him.
In one day, all was changed for Joseph. Because of his faithfulness to the Lord, in both attitude and action, Joseph became the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. Joseph did receive his just rewards.
When Joseph was about 38 or 39 years old, he was reunited with his father and brothers (the ones who had sold him into slavery almost 20 years before.) Joseph’s only attitude toward them was one of love and forgiveness. When those brothers later feared for their lives for what they had done to him, Joseph spoke those poignant words of Genesis 50:20, “…you meant evil against me: but God meant it for good.”
When others deliberately hurt you, let God’s Holy Spirit produce His fruit of love, peace and longsuffering in your life. Don’t complain and get a bad spirit. When you seem to lose all you have worked for, through no fault of your own, remember that
“All things (do) work together for good, to those who love God.” (Romans 8:28)
Be aware that each person you meet, each experience you encounter is being used of God to shape you and prepare you for a future that He clearly sees and knows.Be patient and maintain a Godly spirit by trusting God who loves you deeply!
