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What the enemy meant for evil…
Has there ever been a time in your life where you just didn’t understand what God was doing?
It can be hard to keep trusting Him when we are going through trials, but take heart, God is always working things out for our good. (Romans 8:29) What the enemy meant for evil, can even be changed by God into good things!
What The Enemy Meant For Evil in Joseph’s Life
In the book of Genesis there is a story about Joseph and his jealous brothers. Fed up with the special treatment that their father gave to Joseph, his brothers came up with a scheme to throw him into a well and get rid of him.
Little did they know that God would end up using this for good in the life of Joseph, and many others.
Joseph Trusted God.
I’m sure when Joseph was laying at the bottom of a well, he didn’t understand what God was up to. Throughout his life he faced several different challenges. Yet as you read the story of Joseph, it is obvious that through them all, God was there, working out every little detail.
God Had a Plan For Joseph
Many years later Joseph was given a position of power in Egypt. When his brothers found out, they were afraid because they knew that they had done a terrible thing to Joseph all those years ago, but when Joseph sees his brothers, he tells them this-
“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day…” Gen 50:20
Joseph knew that what his brothers did to him was done from a place of anger and evil in their hearts. However, he also saw that even in that situation, God was at work, and in the end God used that evil plan to bring about something good.
What The Enemy Meant For Evil In My Life
Several years ago I was in a very bad place in my marriage.
My husband had not only turned his back on me, but also on the Lord. His lukewarm faith had become stone cold and his heart had become hardened. Left with no other option, we ended up separated.
Trusting God
At the time I really didn’t understand what God was doing in my life. Everything seemed to be falling apart.
It wasn’t easy but I knew I had to trust God. Even though I couldn’t see how God would use this situation for good, I prayed that somehow He would.
God Had a Plan For My Life
If you would have told me back then that God would use what the enemy meant for evil to completely transform my husband and strengthen our marriage, I wouldn’t have believed it. However, here I am several years later, and I can say with all confidence that God had a plan for us even in all those hardships.
He used our time of separation to show my husband what he was missing in his life. Not just a relationship with his wife and kids, but a true relationship with the Lord. God began to work on my husband, chipping away at his heart of stone, until he had been given a heart of flesh. One that now loves the Lord and his family!
Using What The Enemy Meant For Evil In Your Life
Have you been “at the bottom of a well” in your life? Has your heart ached for the one you love? Have you found yourself in a place where you didn’t want to be, wondering what in the world God was doing?
Maybe you are feeling that way now, watching things in your life unfolding and questioning how God could possibly work in this situation. If you’re there, I can assure you, you are in good company. We all face times like this in our lives. Times where it almost looks like the enemy might win.
In this world we will face trials and troubles. God tells us this in his word in John 16:33, but the good news is that He has overcome the world. God is greater and stronger than anything we will go through, we just need to put our trust in him, like Joseph did.
So in your life, when all you can see is what the enemy meant for evil, remember that God can and will use those exact things for good!
Will you trust Him?
