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Hope for the Day

God's strategies

Diane Houghtaling
Posted 2/17/23

I have found that God is very strategic in His dealings with mankind. He allows events to happen at just the right time and in just the right way for His plans and purposes for our lives to be …

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Hope for the Day

God's strategies

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I have found that God is very strategic in His dealings with mankind. He allows events to happen at just the right time and in just the right way for His plans and purposes for our lives to be fulfilled. However, there are many times we don’t like the circumstances He allows for these strategic moves.

Many in the Bible experienced this. I think of Joseph, whose story can be found in Genesis chapters 37 and 39-47. Joseph had ten older brothers and was the favorite of his father Jacob, who presented him with a beautiful coat of many colors. His brothers were quite jealous of him, and especially hated him after he told them of two dreams he’d had. 

Joseph’s brothers were herding their father’s sheep a distance from home, and one day Jacob sent Joseph to check on them. When he didn’t find them, others told him where they’d moved to – the spot God needed them in.

Joseph finally found his brothers, not realizing they wanted to kill him. However, they threw him into a dry well instead. They took his coat, tore it and put animal blood on it so they could tell their father he’d been killed by a wild animal.

But that wasn’t the end of Joseph. An unexpected caravan of Ishmaelites came along, and they sold him to them as a slave. He was headed to Egypt, which Joseph later found out was where God needed him to be.

Once in Egypt, he was bought by Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guards. But before long, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of making advances towards her. The next strategic move was to prison.

After some time, two prisoners told him about dreams they’d had, and Joseph correctly interpreted them. One was hanged and the other was restored to his position as cupbearer to Pharaoh. Another couple years passed until one night Pharaoh had two disturbing dreams that none could interpret, and the cupbearer remembered Joseph.

Finally Joseph was brought to his final destination, the palace of Egypt. After interpreting the dreams, he was elevated to second in command of all Egypt. He instituted the plan that would eventually save Egypt and his family from famine. He moved them to Egypt and they would become the great nation of Israel there.

I’m sure Joseph would have preferred that God had used an easier and less painful way to move him to Egypt. Many times we also do not like the pain and sorrow associated with some of God’s strategic plans for us. But God knows best how to line up every move in our lives to get us to the place we need to be to bring Him glory and fulfill His plans for us.

As you think back over your life, can you see some of those strategic moves God has allowed in your life? Are you still in the midst of unpleasant circumstances, doubting God, begging Him to change them, while constantly grumbling and complaining about them? Is your sorrow and pain blinding you to believe that God can turn these situations around and use them for good?

As many who have gone before us have discovered, we may not always understand why God allows things in our lives we’d prefer He didn’t, but we can learn to accept them as part of God’s strategic plans for us. Who knows? He may even use them to save a nation.

Hope Ministries is a Christian counseling center, and we are here to help. If you would like to speak confidentially with someone, give us a call at 845-482-5300.

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