Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Monday April 6 2026
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Genesis 50:20-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, to save many people alive.
Sometimes we do not fully understand why God allows certain things to happen to us.
Why did my loved one die?
How do I adjust to life as I become elderly?
Why didn’t God let me have children?
Where was God when all of my family and friends turned against me?
How could God let me have this terminal illness?
On and on the list goes.
And it is true that we may never fully understand why God allows our suffering.
But we can know that He will redeem our suffering for good!
Joseph knew all about suffering, didn’t he?
Sold into slavery by his brothers (who then told their Dad he was dead); falsely accused of rape; thrown into prison for years.
Yes, those are a few of the highlights!
But when Joseph confronted those same brothers years later, we read these words:
Genesis 45:1-8 (ERV)-Joseph could not control himself any longer. He cried in front of all the people who were there. Joseph said, “Tell everyone to leave here.” So all the people left. Only the brothers were left with Joseph. Then he told them who he was. 2 Joseph continued to cry, and all the Egyptian people in Pharaoh’s house heard it. 3 He said to his brothers, “I am your brother Joseph. Is my father doing well?” But the brothers did not answer him because they were confused and afraid. 4 So Joseph said to his brothers again, “Come here to me. I beg you, come here.” When the brothers went to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph. I am the one you sold as a slave to Egypt. 5 Now don’t be worried. Don’t be angry with yourselves for what you did. It was God’s plan for me to come here. I am here to save people’s lives. 6 This terrible famine has continued for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. 7 So God sent me here ahead of you so that I can save your people in this country. 8 It was not your fault that I was sent here. It was God’s plan. God made me like a father to Pharaoh. I am the governor over all his house and over all Egypt.”
Amazing!
Joseph was able to see God working through the suffering that he endured. There was a good reason for it, even if he didn’t understand it at the time! The tears he cried were not unseen by the Lord, and they paved the way for the countless people (men, women, and children) who would have died terrible and painful deaths without Joseph’s sacrifices.
He trusted in God’s goodness, and He redeemed that suffering for immeasurable good!
I love the words of Erwin Lutzer here:
“Joseph refused to allow his past to be the prism through which he would view his life. His past would not be allowed to color and destroy any hope of being fruitful in his present or in his future….If all that you can see is the Devil in your injustice or abuse, you will never be free from the power of your past. You must see God too—you must see Him as permitting the evil and intending to use the evil for some higher end. We can only move beyond our past when we can embrace it as part of a plan. And while others meant it for evil, we must see it as God intending it for our good. That gives us an entirely different perspective and enables us to give praise to God—not for the evil as such but for how God will use it in our lives. So I must ask again: Do you see God in your circumstance? Do you also see God and His providence in the evil that was done to you? God superintends our lives in order to accomplish His will. Unfortunately, we all have such enormous potential to short-circuit what God wants to do if we are determined to hang on to our bitterness. God does not leave us when we have been dealt injustice but draws near helping us accept it and move on. Pause now and bring God into your situation by faith by giving thanks for all He is doing in your life. Thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness in our pain is the indisputable proof that we believe God is a part of our pain.” (Erwin W. Lutzer, When You’ve Been Wronged: Moving From Bitterness to Forgiveness, 123, 127-128 (Kindle Edition): Chicago: Moody Publishers)
It is okay to ask God “why am I going through this?”
But remember that it is also alright to pray, “Lord, I trust You and ask You to redeem my suffering and to bring good through it, in Your time and Your way.”
Trust the Lord’s goodness, wisdom, and power.
Thank You, Lord, for Your goodness and Your work in our lives. Amen.