“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20 NIV
To say that Saturday’s 11th annual Frog Hill Half Marathon had an unexpected ending would be an absolute understatement. At approximately 9:59 a.m, 18-year-old Rudy Zevallos (a high school senior at Lebanon High who had recently been baptized) crossed the finish line and immediately collapsed. Sadly, although he was treated quickly, the young man was pronounced dead at the hospital later that day. As you can imagine, this prompted me (and countless others) to not only pray for Rudy’s family but to pray that God would take this tragedy and work it for good like only He can. Which is why I had to smile when I received a message from my dear friend Joy who lives in the same town as Rudy’s family yesterday morning. “You should know - our pews were full of youth this morning. His friends - kids I’ve never seen in church before. And God moved big time.” “This makes me cry tears of joy!!!” I responded. “That was my hope!!!!! Oh Lord please use this to do a mighty work in our community!!!!” And I had to smile again when Joy messaged me back, “I thought that would bring you some joy and peace. I truly believe lives were changing today. The altars were so full you couldn’t get to them.”
And, you know, when it comes to finding joy and peace in the midst of sorrow and sadness, the story of Joseph is a beautiful picture of how God can take even the most hopeless situations and turn them into something good. After being sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, Joseph went through a series of trials that landed him in prison where he interpreted the dream of Pharaoh and was eventually made second in command of the entire country of Egypt—where he predicted a great famine would occur and then began gathering enough grain for the people of Egypt to avoid starving to death until the famine was over. When the famine reached the land Joseph’s family was in, his brothers were sent to buy grain. After a series of events, the brothers learned that the one in charge of the grain was the brother they had done wrong to. But… and this is where it gets good… when the brothers feared for their lives, Joseph assured them that it was all a part of God’s plan and then later said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” proving that no matter how “bad” a situation may look or seem, God can work it for the “good.”
So, no matter what you’re facing today, I hope you’ll choose to trust the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob my friend. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever which means He can trusted to take any and all “bad” situations and work them for your good and for the good of many. It may take time for it to happen, and you may not understand how He could possibly work your situation for the good, but He will. That’s what God does.
Heavenly Father, thank You for being the same God today that You were when You turned Joseph’s father’s despair over his lost son into rejoicing when he was found. Lord, help us to trust that You will work this situation into good as well, in ways that only You can. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!
No comments:
Post a Comment