That's Good - no wait, BAD - Hold On, It's Good, Right?

So Joseph bought up all the farms in Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his land—the famine was that bad. That’s how Pharaoh ended up owning all the land and the people ended up slaves; Joseph reduced the people to slavery from one end of Egypt to the other. - Genesis 47:20-21

We remember the story of Moses and the Exodus starting with how the Hebrews were so oppressed as slaves in the land of Egypt. What we forget is that one of their great patriarchs, Joseph, was the original one who got them into slavery in the first place. Sounds harsh but it was initially part of a very good thing - God was using Joseph's leadership to save the entire region during a time of extreme famine. But the people ended up slaves (including the Egyptians, by the way) which was a bad thing. Of course a couple generations later it ends a very bad thing as the Egyptians are again free and busy treating their Hebrew slaves harshly with God's people crying out to the Lord in their suffering. But then that story ends up in a very good way with Moses and the people leaving with great wealth as God leads them out in a glorious victory! Whew, my head hurts... its enough to make yo emotionally motion sick!

It helps to know this because you may be facing something tough today. It might be an unforeseen outcome of something that initially looked good... and now is looking to be heading in a bad direction... and maybe God is yet going to turn it to something amazing. Hold on, trust the Lord with all your heart. He hasn't lost sight of you. He hasn't dropped the ball. Sometimes God's plan for His people involves some unexpected twists and turns, some drama before the great good arrives. 

Patience. Trust Him with your story.

A Spark to warm your soul during dark times.