Getting Past Your PastSample

"USED FOR GOOD"

If you have been a follower of Jesus for more than 5 minutes, you have probably figured out that your faith doesn’t make you immune to the troubles and hardships of life. Even in the past couple of years, I have been faced with betrayals, great loss, and the tragic deaths of two beloved family members.

I love Jesus, and sometimes bad things still happen.

God has a plan for your life, and it is good. But the enemy has a plan too.

God’s plan for your life includes hope, prosperity, and an abundant life. The enemy’s plan is to steal, kill, and destroy (Jeremiah 29:11, John 10:10).

And yet in the midst of circumstances that might tempt me to call my faith into question and make me wonder if the enemy’s plan is winning out, I have come to the conclusion that God is, in fact, good, His character can be trusted, and that His plan is still good.

Again and again, beyond all logic and reason, I have watched him take tragedy and pain, hardship and loss, and use it all for good.

The story of Joseph is a beautiful illustration of this principle. To an outsider, it may have appeared that the enemy’s plan was prevailing in his life. He was sold into slavery by his own brothers and later wrongly imprisoned based on false accusations. Through all of this, he maintained his character and his faith in God. "And the Lord was with Joseph." (Genesis 39:21).

In a wild twist of events that can only be the hand of God, Joseph eventually went from slave and prisoner to second in command over all of Egypt. In this position, he created strategy that sustained Egypt through a severe famine and in doing so, saved countless lives.

When the same brothers who sold him into slavery came to him for grain during the famine, rather than taking the opportunity to lash out at his brothers for all they had put him through, he showed grace and mercy. Joseph’s response was truly astounding:

“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

Joseph understood the beauty of God’s redemptive plan… that even in situations where it appears the enemy is having his way, God is at work.

My own life reflects this truth. God has used the pain from my past and the mistakes I have made to birth Treasures, a ministry that is seeing women in the sex industry and victims of sex trafficking reached and restored across the world.

I know, that I know, that I know, that he will do the same for you. If you let Him, He can and will take every single thing the enemy meant for harm in your life and use it for good!

NOTE FROM HARMONY:

Hi Friend, I hope you enjoyed this devotional!

I would love to continue to encourage you to LIVE FREE, DREAM BIG and DO GOOD! I invite you to connect with me at harmonydust.com where you can also learn more about the work of Treasures and find my memoir, Scars and Stilettos.