Today’s Reading: Genesis 38, 39 & 40

Sometimes, God’s blessing shows up in funny ways. An unexpected check lands in our mailbox and just after we’ve decided how we’re going to spend this surprise cash, our car breaks down and we have to spend the money at the mechanic. We have a great day at work only to come home to bad news from our spouse. We grow ever closer to God through scripture and prayer and then we’re blindsided with the illness of a loved one.

Joseph might be the poster child for God’s hand at work in the midst of…well…a mess. You see, Joseph was obviously chosen by God for something special. His birth was something of a miracle, his dreams of ruling over his family were prophetic visions from God. Everything he put his hand to flourished. And yet, it’s easy to overlook the fact that in all of this “blessing” that Joseph received, he was still a slave. He was sold by his brothers and ended up as a servant of Potiphar. In charge of the household? Yes. The head servant? Yes. But a servant, nonetheless.

Then, after standing up for Godly values, he moved on from servant-hood and slavery…into imprisonment. For someone supposedly blessed by God, Joseph seemed to be moving in the wrong direction! Of course, he flourished in prison and soon was in charge of all the prisoners. Again, he had achieved the highest ranking possible, but he was still a prisoner – blessed, but confined.

It’s important not to let our situation define us. Sometimes we have to look a little harder to see God’s hand at work in our lives. Sometimes, the blessings come mixed in with the brokenness. In these moments, we have a choice to make. We can either curse God for things not turning out the way we thought they were going to, or we can recognized that God is sovereign and that he has a plan – that his ways are not our ways.

If we choose wisely, we’ll be reminded of what would have happened to our bank account if our car broke down and we hadn’t gotten that unexpected check, how much more difficult that bad news would have been if it hadn’t be preceded by a good day or how ill-prepared we would be to deal with that disease if we hadn’t been developing and growing in our relationship with God. If we recognize God’s sovereignty even in the midst of trials and hard times, then we’ll also recognize God’s incredibly faithful hand working through it all. We may have to look a little harder, but the good work of the Lord never stops!