Faithwalkers Journal
A Bigger Plan - 3 - Monday February 15, 2016
But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. Genesis 45:5 NLT
Think about Joseph's life: sold into slavery, pursued by Potiphar's wife, and then thrown into prison. He could have been bitter or angry. Instead he chose to live for God's bigger "yes" rather than his own shadow mission. God used Joseph's circumstances to change his character.

When Joseph was 30 years old, he became second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt. Then when his family comes, he does rule over them, but not with an iron fist – he rules with tears. He weeps before them with love and compassion because he is able to see God's bigger plan.

The brothers had concocted this idea of "Hey, let's murder him. No, let's not murder him – let's throw him in the cistern and let him die. Oh, here are some Midianite traders. Let's sell him." And so they let him live, but they sold him. Years later when Joseph looks back, meditating on this journey, he acknowledges that God sent him.

I think it's an astounding perspective on life. It is so easy for me to get overwhelmed and undone by the simple things that happen in my life, the pressures, temptations, and trials that I face. And here Joseph is saying God sent him through all those trials and circumstances! He had God's bigger "yes" in mind, and he was able to see the bigger plan. As a result he was able to contribute a significant part in God's redemptive story.

If you're not on a mission with God, you will become a mission field of the world. So have a bigger "yes" on the inside.
Submitted by:
Doug Brown
Faithwalkers East 2014
Joseph: Heroism in the Moral Choices,
One-Year Reading Plan:
Exodus 39:1-40:38
Mark 1:1-28
Psalms 35:1-16
Proverbs 9:11-12
[Read Online]