He Will Bring Us In To Take Us Out

Genesis 45:8

So now it was not you who sent me here, 

but God . . .

I'd like to begin by thanking you for allowing me to share my love of Scripture and journaling with you.  We had a lovely time together on Sunday, journaling Genesis 45:8, "So now it was not you who sent me here, but God."  

I shared a little by recapping the highlights of Joseph's story and what resonated

with me. One thing that spoke to me was that although Joseph may have brought on some of the suffering he went through, he did so unknowing that God was

orchestrating an amazing plan out of the rubble that he experienced. 

While reading the story, I asked myself several questions, like, why did Jesus come from Judah's lineage, the fourth son of Jacob, rather than from Rueben, the first born of Jacob? And, why was Joseph's story interrupted with the story of Judah and Tamar? The third question was the one I felt inspired to journal, why did God move heaven and earth to bring Jacob's family to Egypt, only to move heaven and earth again, in Exodus, to take them out?

God sometimes will allow situations to happen to us, as he did for Joseph, not to kill him, or make him suffer without a purpose or meaning, but to fulfill a greater plan.  It would be the lineage of Jacob that would fulfill the promise he made to Abraham.  He would create a great nation and through that nation would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would pay the price for the sins of the world, from generation to generation.  The Lord used Joseph and his suffering to save that promise.  

       

The word says in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has a purpose and plan for each and everyone of his children.  This plan is not limited and only for us, this plan goes beyond us to fulfill His greater purpose and plan.  When He allows us to go through various trials and situations and we wonder "Why, Father?"  

The people of Israel were enslaved for 400+ years.  They may have felt forgotten and ignored, but certainly were not.  God remembered them, he heard their suffering and cries.  God brought them to Egypt to save them from the famine, but they would not remain there forever.  In the book of Exodus He would raise another young man, who would also be brought into a story of pain and suffering, to take them out of Egypt and into the promise.  For they would not die as captives, they would come out redeemed by the mighty hand of God.

Let's be assured, as Genesis 45:8 reminds us, God is involved in our stories.  He will use everything that has happened to us to fulfill his greater plan and purpose.  He will not leave us in those places, He is coming to take us out.  He will never forget us or give up on us.  

"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4    

~ R.E.S.T. ~ 

He has come for us and will come again and again, how many times we need him.  He will never stop coming to our rescue. 

 

~ Save the date ~ 

Our next Bible Journaling meet up is scheduled for 

Sunday, June 2 @ 3pm.