Day 21
Today's Reading:
There is no reading today, but you can use this time to catch up on any days that you may have missed this week.
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Congratulations we are three weeks in and finished Genesis, the first book of the Bible. God calls Abraham, promising him land, countless descendants and a blessing for all nations. God kept his promise through Abraham’s son Isaac and then his grandson, Jacob. Jacob became Israel, and father of the 12 tribes. Jacob’s son, Joseph rises to be the family savior in Egypt, allowing the family to grow into a nation.
But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
These two verses from Genesis 45, capture Joseph's entire story as he told his brothers that it was God’s will for all things to have happened, the betrayal, slavery, prison and waiting. The births and journeys, dreams and reunions were all in God’s plan. Each twist of human sin and suffering. God’s sovereign hand was guiding history to save His people and fulfill His covenant promise to Abraham; it was not you, but God.
In chapters 30-50 God took a family and through 20 years of jealousy, famine, and prison. He worked to guide each step so that Joseph could stand before his brothers and declare…but God. From Jacobs spotted sheep to Laban's cheating, and from Potiphar’s wife to prison, Joseph preserved his family and a nation in Egypt until God moved them out of the land.
In the end, Jacob was renamed “Israel” by God himself. Joseph's dreams as a kid wound up making him the second most powerful man in Egypt. His brothers bowed before him just as the dreams suggested. God quietly steered the entire land, and He always wins. The entire family of 12 sons from one man with multiple wives became a new nation of people exactly as God promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Each sacrifice and tear shed turned the family into the 12 tribes of Israel and kept His word alive.
Today, when life feels chaotic and the promises of God seem delayed or impossible, remember that the same God who turned this family into an entire nation is still quietly steering your story, and He still always wins.
Today's discussion question:
When your own life feels chaotic, maybe promises you’re holding onto seem delayed, impossible, or even forgotten, how does this ending of Genesis encourage you? Where do you need to trust that the same God is still quietly steering your story, and that in the end, He always wins?
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