But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result-the survival of many people.
Therefore, don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Genesis 50:20-21 HCSB
We all have those true stories that we love to hear and share. The other day I loved sitting in my mother-in-law’s kitchen and listening as she reminisced about times with her brother that had just passed away and her other siblings. She and my husband shared stories about their family.
It was recently brought to my attention that it’s obvious that I like the Old Testament as I mention it a great deal in my blog. I really do love the Old Testament. Recently someone said to me that the New Testament was the gospel and the Old Testament was not so important because it was just history. I had to strongly disagree. While I will admit that I’m not a big history buff when it comes to what we studied in school, I find biblical history fascinating. I love the stories of the Old Testament. It would be hard for me to pinpoint a specific story because I love them all. Our scripture passage comes from one of my favorite stories, which is the one about Joseph. Joseph’s brothers had treated him horribly. They had captured him and sold him into slavery. But Joseph realized this had all been in God’s plan for him. Joseph kept the faith and excelled in every position. Even when he was falsely accused and thrown into prison, God gave him favor with those in charge and he wound up running the prison. Eventually he would find favor with Pharaoh and be put as second in command over all of Egypt. In this position he would save Egypt, and others who came seeking food, from the famine. He realized that he had to go through all this in order to save his family, even those who meant to harm him. He understood that this had all been in God’s plan for him. He passed every test by staying true to God and keeping God’s commands.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see one thing very clearly. Those who trust in the Lord truly do rise up and soar on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31). Those who don’t trust in the Lord and do things their own way didn’t do so well. Many who refused to submit to the Lord experienced tragedies because they were prideful and refused to surrender to the Lord. Haman in the book of Esther met a horrific end for mistreating God’s people. Numerous kings in the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and didn’t fair so well. We even saw throughout the Old Testament how the Israelites, God’s chosen people, would do well for a while. Then they would fall into sin, usually by worshipping idols and God would punish them. They would cry out to God and God would hear their cry and save them and then they would repeat the process. The moral of the stories throughout the Old Testament teach us that evil people never win. It may seem at times as though evil people are gaining an upper hand, but God’s got this. Evil never wins. It looked like it was all over for Daniel in the Lion’s den, but God had the final say (Daniel 6:10-28). Not only did Daniel survive the night in the Lion’s den unharmed, but in verse 28 we are told that he prospered. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego went into the fiery furnace where they certainly should not have survived, but God said otherwise (Daniel 3). They not only escaped the fiery furnace without even the smell of soot on them, but the king rewarded them in the province of Babylon (Daniel 3:30).
I love the Old Testament stories because they show us time and time again that those who remain faithful to the Lord always win. It may take a while and we may have to go through some trying times to get there, but we win.
God rewards those who love Him and keeps His commands and He curses those who come against His people. We see this throughout the entire Bible. The other great thing about the Old Testament is that Jesus is all through it. From Genesis, the world is being prepared for a savior. In Isaiah 9, he prophesies about Jesus’ birth. From Genesis to Revelation, we are assured of a win if we trust in our Lord and Savior..
I don’t know what you are facing today, perhaps it’s a giant like Goliath. I do know with God’s help you can take that giant down just like David did (1 Samuel 17). Whatever or whoever comes your way, be strong and be courageous, don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For it is the LORD your God who goes with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Have a great day!