Always good is our theme.
It’s from a hymn we studied this past week in Bible Study titled, “What God Ordains is Always Good,” and I put up that study on our website.
Always good.
The hymn draws in part from our Old Testament Reading for today
19But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,
This beautiful truth, which some pastors have called the theme of the Book of Genesis, indeed, perhaps the theme of the entire Scriptures, What you meant for evil, God meant it for good,…what they meant for evil, God meant it for good
Is confessed elsewhere in one of the most comforting passages for us Christians in all of Holy Scripture:
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
All things means all things, what God ordains for you, for me, is always good. Always.
Dear saints,
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
When do you remember saying that or thinking that?
When has it been told to you, “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
This past weekend our family went camping at Morrow Mountain State Park. We’re all in. We’re going to be campers, whether we like it or not. And we liked it, and I think we’ll like even more as we grow.
But let me tell you, if there is a way that you can pack quickly and lightly for a family of 7, I will leave a suggestion box in the back of the church. You can call me at 3 a.m. if you have some ideas. I will be all ears.
As we finished packing and I started to load the van, I decided to put our camping chairs on top of the van.
And I didn’t exactly strap it down tightly or carefully.
It was definitely a, “That should be good enough,” type job to get to moving on to the next steps.
One of our children who was watching me said, “Dad. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Ehh….it’s probably fine.”
Well, 20 minutes, after hearing from our roof a loud thumb and seeing in my rearview mirror one of our camping chairs tumble over to the other side of the rode, turning on my blinkers to warn oncoming traffic and making a U-turn, it was obvious the tie down job wasn’t good enough and that that was not a good idea.
It really wasn’t a big deal. A slightly torn camping chair was the result, but I know there are plenty of stories from my life and your life in which bad ideas did have deeper consequences.
We have suffered from our own idea that ourselves and others too.
We have suffered from others bad ideas that harmed us.
Our Epistle Reading speaks about how the whole creation is suffering from the harm that Adam and Eve brought from their bad idea of listening to the devil.
The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him (Adam) who subjected it…subjected to bondage to decay…the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now (Romans 8:20-22).
But I don’t want us to focus on our bad ideas, but God’s ideas and what we think of them and what we should think of them.
We think that God has some pretty good ideas sometimes.
That usually involved things going pretty well for us.
Relationships in our lives clicking. Good idea giving me this person, God! Thanks.
Success at work, success in the home, success in the church! Love it. Fantastic idea, Lord!
Feeling good, feeling healthy, feeling wise! Great minds think alike Jesus. I wanted that, too!
But then there’s also break ups and divorces, fights between parents and children, overbearing bosses and lazy co-workers.
There’s sickness, loss of wealth, and death of people we really loved having in our lives.
I’m not so sure this suffering stuff is such a good idea for me, God!
I’m not so sure suffering because of my own sin,
Or suffering because of others sin,
Or just suffering the bondage to decay and futility as being a part of this dying world, Father.
Always good, dear children of God.
What they meant for evil, God means for good.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
We thank God today for the story of Joseph.
The Lord’s Word says that
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4
So, the story of Joseph if for your endurance and encouragement, for your hope.
Joseph was one of 12 children, and the favorite of his father (Genesis ??) – you gotta think he was thinking, good idea.
This created jealousy and the other brothers wanted to kill, but eventually settled with selling him to slavery – bad idea?
He was sold into slavery but God blessed him in all that he did so he rose to position of wealth and authority and privilege.
But the master of the houses’ wife wanted to sleep with him and when he refused she said he tried to sleep with her and so he was put into prison of Pharoah.
Through a series of God giving him special abilities to interpret dreams, he eventually rose to be the second most powerful man in Egypt, which was the most powerful civilization at the time.
So, when his brothers come to him to ask him for help because they and their families were going to starve, you know those brothers who wanted to kill him and then did sell him into slavery, do you wonder if he thought it would be a good idea to take vengeance into his own hands.
He doesn’t, but his brother think the only reason he’s not taking vengeance is out of respect for their father, so when their father dies, they think they’re going to get paid back for all the evil they did.
But Joseph said, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good...
Through him, God would provide food for all of his brothers and their households and all of Egypt.
Now we could go detail by detail of Joseph’s life and start assessing what ideas God had that were good and what ideas God had that were bad.
Or we can keep the story going and figure what’s good and what’s bad.
Joseph eventually dies and years later the Israelites were themselves enslaved by Egypt.
God eventually brought His people out of Egypt and their slavery.
God’s people often used their new found freedom to complain and rebel against God.
God would keep sending prophets and kings and judges that would bring His people back to faith in Him and love to others. And on and on and on.
And your story, do you want to start, is this what you want to do –
pick and choose what was God’s good ideas and His bad ideas?
Shouldn’t have let this happen God.
Shouldn’t be giving me this suffering God.
Shouldn’t have put this person in my life.
Or do we submit and yield and trust that God is always good and always leading and always guiding and always helping and always loving and always working out all things together for our good.
We Christians know the right answer, but God is here again to strengthen us in the right answer.
He doesn’t tell us all the whys.
We don’t get to know all His plans.
We don’t get to know the future, except we do get to know the future, and that is glory and peace and all tears wiped away and all shame covered.
We are eagerly waiting for that, as our Epistle says.
But as we wait, we wait in hope.
Not like a “I hope it doesn’t rain today,”
But in a I know that God is always good sort of way.
And I trust because He has told me to trust and has shown me so many stories of how He works it all out.
Joseph and Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego,
Peter and Paul and John,
Mary and Martha and Mary Magdalene.
And especially the story of Jesus, my God, my Leader, my Guider, my Savior.
What they meant for evil,
The betrayal, the lies, the cowardice,
What they meant for evil,
The stripping, the spitting, the crucifying,
He meant for good.
To redeem me.
To have mercy on me.
To declare me good.
I am good in His sight – forgiven, washed, justified.
And that helps me begin to see that He is good – always good – His ways are good and right and true and justice.
Vengeance is his.
Justice is his.
He know how to help in times of bad now.
He knows how to protect and shield and strengthen our faith and hope and love.
And He is doing it again now.
He is here loving you and forgiving and strengthening you and giving you wisdom.
As the old saying goes, we don’t know the future, but we know the one who hold the future. And He holds you again today.
As another saying goes, we don’t trust the pain, we trust the plan. And this plan is held by our Lord who suffered pain for us and knows how to bring us through pain and tears and even death.
It is a good idea to trust that God is always good. In fact, it wasn’t your idea, but His. And He helps you to believe He is faithful again.