Genesis 50:20

“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.” With these words Joseph consoled his brothers that their lives and their future were secure in God’s hands. No matter what they had done, nor how evil their intentions might have been, God would bring about unexpected and unimaginable blessing.

Joseph had every reason to be angry at his older brothers. When they sold him to slave owners from Egypt, the brothers lied to their father about what they had done. For many years Joseph lived as a slave and prisoner in Egypt, away from his family and destitute. But during this time Joseph discovered that God could be trusted, no matter how bad it got, even when others could not be trusted. And he learned that when humans intend for evil, God can turn it around and bring about his good purpose.

When Joseph’s brothers eventually faced the reality that Joseph had been rescued by God and that their future was in Joseph’s hands, they feared that he would retaliate for all the evil they had done to him. However, Joseph knew that God could be trusted. And so he put his confidence in God rather than in resentment and retaliation. His faith and confidence in God’s providence enabled him to embrace God’s bigger picture of goodness.

Lord, help me this day to embrace your bigger picture of goodness. Deliver me from petty thinking, tunnel vision, and unworthy anxieties. You are God, and you are at work in this world  -  “on earth as it is in heaven.” Let me see the ways you are drawing people to yourself, the ways you are stirring up kingdom-minded men and women, and the ways you are bringing about renewal. “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” Fill me with your Spirit so that the eyes of my heart will be opened to see the immeasurable greatness of your power and love, right here and right now. And may I live my life this day rooted and grounded in your love. Amen

From the Book of Common Prayer:  Almighty God, who in the place of Judas chose your faithful servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve: Grant that your Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be guided and governed by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen