Chain of Events

“So now, it was not you that sent me hither, but God” (Genesis 45:8a).

Joseph’s coat of many colors came to mind as I took my colorful shirt from the closet. How could Jacob (the favored child of his mother, Rebekah) not recognize the family turmoil stirred by his preference for Joseph above that for his other children? He was repeating history that he should have buried.

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age” (37:3). Joseph was the firstborn of Jacob’s beloved Rachel, who died moments after delivering their youngest child, Benjamin. “The son of his old age” literally means “the son of old age to him.” Now seventeen years old, Joseph never acted childishly but possessed wisdom and insight beyond his years, like an older man. Jacob expressed his love for Joseph by giving him a colorful tunic (an indication of distinction); his half-brothers hated him for those reasons. His siblings envied and despised him more when Joseph told them about his dream: the family would bow before him one day (v. 11). Their hatred and jealousy were so overwhelming that they devised and carried out a plan to rid themselves of him. They didn’t care that the lie about Joseph’s death would drive their father, Jacob, into deep despair.

It wasn’t Joseph’s fault that Jacob showed him favoritism; neither does Scripture record he had a smug attitude about being the most-loved child. Yet Joseph was unfairly treated, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and imprisoned. But at God’s appointed time, he served as Pharoah’s second in command over Egypt, the only land that escaped the famine because of Joseph’s wise planning. His brothers didn’t recognize the forty-year-old ruler as they requested food, bowing before him. When he revealed his identity, Joseph showed generosity and mercy to his brothers, once cruel but now fearful. Jacob’s “son of old age” showed his wisdom and insight as he told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (50:20).

Joseph was not disappointed or angry with God for the evils that came his way but understood His hand in all the events that led him to be in the right place at the right time. “And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

God is at work in your life and mine, weaving events to carry out His purposes at the right time—if we let Him. God’s promise to His children is in the present tense; daily surrender, loving Him, and living in obedience are vital for Him to work all things together for good. We may not understand why events happen as they do or God’s plan, but we can trust His hand. What others mean for evil, God can turn to good for His glory.