God sent me before you

Bible Reading: Genesis 43-45

Genesis 45:7-8 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Joseph realized the plan of God, but it took a while. After betrayal, slavery and prison, he finally realized what God was doing. God placed Joseph in a strategic position to save the lives of the Egyptians, the Israelites and many other people. He also had him in place to move Israel into Egypt which was his plan all along.

God delivered the Israelites from famine by Joseph's hand. Later, God would deliver the Israelites from Egyptian slavery with Moses' hand. God has a plan and if you and I are in Christ, we are a part of that plan. Joseph did a 'good work' in delivering so many from the famine. The Bible says that God has 'good works' for all his children to do.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

God has ordained these good works before. In other words, his plan is in place in our lives. He is not making it up as he goes. With that in mind, is it possible that difficult circumstances in our lives are like those of Joseph's? Is God positioning you to use you for a great deliverance?

Maybe you suffer at work with a difficult person? Maybe you are there to share the gospel with someone and be the instrument that God uses to bring that person to faith in Christ?

There are many other ways that God could put you in a position of influence in someone's life. I know that God allowed us to meet some doctors, nurses and other families when our daughter was in the hospital. It took a while, but eventually we realized that God wanted us to minister to the people we were coming into contact with.

Don't let the difficulties take your eyes off God's plan. He is bringing about a great deliverance. He has you in a position for a reason. Trust him!

In Christ,
Rody