By Matt Thompson

 Proverbs 19:21 states, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the lord’s purpose that prevails.”

How often do we respond impulsively to life’s events? We spend, eat, and relate impulsively. When life hits us, we often strike back quickly and without thought. We look at the wake our actions leave behind and feel we are beyond forgiveness, that nothing good can come from our mistakes.

A Moment of Fear

Genesis 49:33 records the death of Joseph’s father Jacob. Although Joseph had forgiven his brothers for selling him into slavery, the death of their father brought them a moment of fear—a moment when they remembered their sin. They began to fear Joseph would pay them back for their mistreatment of him.

However, when they came and fell at his feet, Joseph simply explained that God used their evil actions for good—that he was placed in a position to “keep a promise” and that God would come to their aid and take them into the land he promised Abraham (see Genesis 50:19, 20, 24).

A Plan for the Future

I am amazed at how God has used for good the circumstances in my own life that were damaging—moments that have changed my life and have touched others. As I think about Joseph, his brothers, and how God’s plan prevailed, I am reminded of a promise in Jeremiah 29:11: “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” 

Claim God’s plan and promise in your life and watch it unfold.

Matt Thompson ministers with the Geneva Church of Christ in Geneva, Ohio. He and his wife Angel have two children: Joshua and Faith.