The story has not ended

 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭45‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In our darkest moments, this is a good reminder. God has a plan for us. Sometimes it means not giving us what we want. Sometimes it means suffering. Sometimes we are persecuted, bullied, oppressed. Sometimes we go down pathways, unsure where our destination is.

But even in such moments, we need to trust that some good will or is happening. The good may not be for us at that moment. (Joseph lost his family but went on to save a nation from famine, and in the process, regain his family.) Perhaps someone is more deserving. And that is God’s justice, if we are open to His message. What we feel we deserve, is often a product of our coveting. We are often fixated on ourselves, not on what God’s plan is. He loves us all, not just our individual selves. We are part of His team.

And if we find peace, we are far more likely to see the greatness of His plan for us, far more likely to fully embrace and realise what it is when it does happen to us. The Bible does not really tell us I think, how or when Joseph came to this insight but we know he must have because of how he treated and tested his brothers when he next saw them. He saw that he was part of a greater plan (even if he didn’t know what lay ahead), and that there might be redemption for his brothers.

And when it happens, wouldn’t it wonderful to see that moment as part of His continuing grace for all of us? We have not arrived, the story is yet to be completed, and there will be other blessings (and “disappointments”) along the way. The hope is that something changes in our hearts and in our perspectives so that we no longer see disappointments, but merely see them as rest stops, as opportunities for reflection, to try and discern what His plan is for us over the horizon.