GOD'S GREATER PLAN

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food.

When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph and do what he tells you."

When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" He continued, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die."

Then ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. So Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

Genesis 41:53-57, 42:1-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we reach the end of Genesis, chapter 41, God’s plan as given through Joseph as he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream is well in progress. The scriptures tell us that the seven years of abundance had ended and the seven years of famine began, just as God had promised.

Well, as the people of Egypt began to feel the impact of the famine, they "cried to Pharaoh for food" and he directed them to, "Go to Joseph and do what he tells you." So in their time of great need, we find the mighty nation of Egypt finding help through Joseph’s execution and management of God’s plan to save a fifth of the harvest during each year of abundance to help cover the needs during the famine. This surplus was now distributed as "Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians."

It’s important for us to note that although God’s initial plan was viewed as only aiding the Egyptians, He had more far reaching purposes in mind. For we read where all countries started to come to Egypt because the famine was severe everywhere, including Canaan where Joseph’s father and brothers lived. Chapter 42 begins with Jacob sending his sons to Egypt to buy grain so they could have food to eat.

Now we need to remember that Jacob believes Joseph is dead and this is why he is so afraid to send Benjamin with his other ten sons. For after already losing his favored son (Joseph) before, Jacob is concerned that something might happen to his youngest, Benjamin, and so he chooses to keep him at home.

Meanwhile, Joseph’s brothers go onto Egypt with no idea of what happened to their brother after they sold him off to slavery and frankly, we don’t get any indication that they even care. So they head to purchase grain as ordered by their father with no thought of possibly reuniting with Joseph and discovering that the very dreams they despised him over would come true.

Ultimately, all of this was just a part of God’s greater plan as the famine was just a way to a means, the circumstance serving as a backdrop for what will be a beautiful reunion grounded in amazing reconciliation.

To further illuminate how God has a greater plan, I will share with you a true story, one that is very close to me. The names are withheld because they aren’t as important as the lesson.

This story begins with a white man falling deeply in love with a black woman. After they had begin dating, he felt so excited about finding this love in his life that he called his parents to tell them about it and everything appeared to be fine until he tells them that his new girlfriend was black.

A very uncomfortable silence fell on the other end of the phone line, a silence and isolation that wouldn’t end there. For the man’s father would not speak to his son for the next year and a half. As for the mother, she changed her stance a month after the news had been broken and would go on to support the relationship to include attending the wedding 9 months later, a wedding that the father refused to attend. After getting married, the son and his new wife would make the eight hour drive from Virginia to Pennsylvania to visit several times over the course of the next eighteen months and while their mother welcomed them, their father would always conveniently be absent.

All this upset the son greatly, leading him to be angry at his father and unsure how to handle the matter. So he turned to the Lord in prayer and read the scriptures which led him to only one proper conclusion.

He needed to forgive his father and respond to him with love.

And so he did. He sent cards to his dad and gifts on his birthday and other holidays, although he never received anything in return. During this time, his wife never said anything negative about the father-in-law she had never met, despite the way he had treated her. This attitude amazed her husband and caused him to love her all the more for truly, she was a woman of the Lord.

Well, after the year and a half had passed, the son and his wife were invited to come home for what was being promoted as a family reunion. Before attending, the son asked about how his father would approach the event and was told by his sister that he (the father) wanted to reconcile. So the son and his wife drove north, returning to his hometown and to his boyhood home where his father was waiting to reunite with his son and finally meet his new daughter-in-law.

The son went into the house first and as he entered his home, there sat his father, on the couch where he always sat with tears rolling down his face. Sobbing, he told the son he was sorry and in turn, the son embraced his crying father and said, "It’s okay Dad. I love you and forgive you."

The father didn’t understand. He asked how he could be loved or forgiven after the way he had acted and the son shared that if God could forgive him (the son) for the sinner that he was, then he could forgive anyone.

These words would enter the father’s heart and transform him forever.

Next, the father’s new daughter-in-law entered and as he saw her for the first time, he again broke down in tears, inconsolable within the shame he felt. Again, he was embraced by her and told that he was loved and forgiven. From that day forward until he passed away, the father would love her like she was one of his own.

So as you can see, this true story had a happy ending, one that I believe would inspire and encourage anyone who hears it. But you see God had something even better to produce from this. He had an even greater plan. For you see, the father, my father, started to attend church every week after his experience of what real forgiveness looked like and turned his life over to Jesus. On the surface, one would think that God’s plan was about reconciling my wife and I to him but what was really happening was that the Lord was working to reconcile my father to Himself. In the end translation, my wife and I were just a part of God’s greater plan.

Soon, we’re going to see how all the elements of the Joseph story piece together for another of God’s greater plans but for today, let’s all commit ourselves to never underestimate what God might be doing in, around, and through us, particularly as we are interacting with others. For when it’s all said and done with, He might just be using any of us in a very special way to carry out His plan and His plans are always well beyond anything we can comprehend.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.