trusting in Gods plan

S - gen 45
4 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! 5 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. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.[a]

O -  The message of Joseph's experience and God's promise to Abraham and then Israel to make a great nation of them,  shows that God has a plan,  and plan not for our destruction but for our salvation.  I think up until his brothers coming back to Joseph for a second time, did Joseph truly understand this plan, but He faithfully served God, and held on to God through all the experiences that led Him to this point.  I think it is the same for us, we have to remember God's truth , he has a plan for us, the end in mind is not the path to that end, but the end itself.  Only God's wisdom can weave together a path that shapes us and prepares us for our future. 

A -  The application for me is to recognize the struggle I have with the path.  Along the path in my life have often felt like great defeat, but in retrospect where preparing me for a different future that God has planned for me.   Understanding this and surrendering to God's plan is the ultimate lesson.  I must continue to offer my life surrendered to the Lord's plan, and trust in His ways.

P - Father, thank you for your truth, I pray for strength and wisdom, and even faith enough to follow your path.   I need help strengthening the trust I have in you, by seeing your good in the events in my life, and how you got me in your hands.  I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.