What you meant for evil, God meant for good.

Scripture:  Genesis 40:12- 50:26

Observation:  We see the life of Joseph from his time in prison to his death.  God gives us a glimpse into a man's life and how, through circumstances beyond his control, he uses those circumstances to give glory to God.  He was wrongly imprisoned and forgotten about by his cellmate, the butler.  However, we see God's blessing in that Joseph was placed in charge of his fellow prisoners.  Two years later, when Pharaoh is plagued by dreams, the butler remembers Joseph.  It is through an unfortunate circumstance, in this case the butler's forgetfulness, that God uses it for good.  Joseph is let out of prison and placed into leadership, second only to Pharaoh!  Through all these various trials, Joseph is placed in positions of leadership which ultimately prepared him for this day.  He is able to save his entire family from famine as well as all of Egypt!  As Joseph puts it to his brothers, "But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."

Application:  Sometimes we are tried and tested and go through persecutions all because, in the end, there is a greater purpose it is serving.  We only see a small glimpse of God's plan and may not understand why we are being hurt, but He does.  He knows exactly what hardships we need to face in order to prepare us for future events where those trials can be used as nuggets of wisdom to others to bring about God's glory.  If Joseph was never sold to Potipher, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to grow in leadership.  If he wasn't wrongly accused by Potipher's wife, he wouldn't have had the chance to further grow in leadership or meet the butler.  If he never met the butler, he wouldn't have been brought to see Pharaoh.  If he was never brought to Pharaoh, he wouldn't have been able to save his family from famine.  All these trials, though 'undeserved', proved to be exactly what needed to happen to save people from certain death!

Prayer:  I pray that I am able to keep the proper perspective when I am going through hardships so that I don't miss out on the greater blessings God has in store for others who'll benefit from my passing through those trials!