This week hasn't gone according to plan!
I know that I'm not the only one in our church community who will reflect on the last seven days and come to the same conclusion. From the small and the frustrating ways that reality doesn't meet our expectations right through to very significant and potentially life-altering situations, for quite a few this week is one that 'hasn't gone according to plan'.
What do we do when things don't work out as we want, or hope, or expect?
In Genesis chapter 37, as a battered and bruised Joseph looked up at his wicked brothers from the bottom of the well, his week was not going according to plan! And things were going from bad to worse as he was sold into slavery in Egypt ending up in jail for crimes he never committed.
But when all was said and done, after Joseph had been promoted to second only to Pharoah in Eygpt, this is what he said to those brothers who threw him in the well,
“Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 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.” (Genesis 50:19–20)
He couldn't see it from the bottom of the well but God messed up Joseph’s life plan, and it was a really good thing. He did for Joseph what Joseph could never have done for himself.
Here is what John Piper concludes,
"The moral of the story? God really, truly knows what he is doing. He usually takes longer than we would like. He often leads us through strange territory. Sometimes he defers, or even destroys, our dreams. But God, our loving, tender, delightful Father, knows exactly what he is doing. He is accomplishing more in you and through you than you could ever think or imagine.
"Are you in a place you never expected to be? Has God taken you on a path you never would have willfully chosen? Take heart. God hasn’t deserted you. He hasn’t forgotten you. He hasn’t made a mistake. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows exactly what you need and where you need to be.
"The truth is, God’s life plan is always better than mine."
Grace & peace,
Andrew