Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. (Psalm 119:67)
Our God is always at work. It is evident that He allows things to happen in our lives to get our attention. Read the account in Genesis 42:1-28 as we find the Lord working in the lives of Joseph’s brothers.
Notice the question in verse twenty-eight: “What is this that God hath done unto us?” They saw God’s hand working and questioned why God would allow that to happen to them. They thought, “What is God saying to us? We do not understand, but we know that God is surely in this.”
Joseph’s brothers were right. God was working in their lives. He would soon take these brothers and begin to build the great nation of Israel.
We need to be reminded that God is working in the life of every person. Do we see the Lord in the circumstances of our lives? Whether we see Him or not, God is at work.
God Deals with Us in Love
When we think about this question, “What is this that God hath done unto us?” let us keep in mind that God always deals with us in love. The Bible says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We need to establish this one fact firmly in our thinking: God deals with us in love. God’s judgments are an act of love.
We get the idea at times that God has forsaken us or that He is doing something to us that is awful. Some ask, “Lord, why did You allow such a thing to happen to me?” Remember that God is dealing with us in love. We cannot allow the Devil to blind us to the goodness of God. Romans 2:4b says, “…knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance…”
God Works to Bring Us to Himself
Something else we must remember is that God’s intention is to bring men to Himself. The Bible says in Exodus 19:4, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.”
As we consider what is going on in our lives, our homes, our jobs, etc., whatever thoughts are racing through our minds, we must remember that God is dealing with us in love and His purpose is to bring us to Himself.
God Causes Us to Realize Our Need
Would it not be wonderful if when everything is going well, we trusted God with all our strength and lived for Him daily with all the desire possible? Unfortunately, it does not typically happen that way. It is during the days of darkness and the hours of great difficulty that we realize we have a need and turn our hearts to the Lord.
In this account, we see that God caused Joseph’s brothers to realize their need. Genesis 42:1-5 tells us that there was a famine in the land. They had to go to Egypt to buy bread. It is only when we realize we have a need that we are moved to action.
The Lord had allowed this famine and had raised up Joseph to store food for the days of famine. The Lord was working in all of this. The great need of Joseph’s brothers was to be right with God. The Lord used all these other things to bring that to pass.
God Reminds Us of Our Deeds
The Lord has a special way of reminding us of our deeds. As thousands of people were pouring into Egypt, Joseph was administrating the dispersing of food. In that great crowd, he saw his brothers and he knew them.
In Genesis 42:9, Joseph said, “Ye are spies.” Remember that Joseph had been falsely accused by his brothers. They had accused him of spying on them for their father. Now Joseph is accusing them of being spies. God is using Joseph to remind them of their deeds.
Do we think we can live long enough to forget our unconfessed sins? God knows what we have done and causes us to know. We cannot have His blessing if we carry unconfessed sin in our lives. Therefore, God reminds us of our deeds.
God Wants Us to Return to Him
These men were shaken up. Genesis 42:21 says, “And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” After twenty-five years, they could still hear Joseph’s voice calling out to them from the pit. Their sin had caught up to them. They knew that God was holding them guilty for what they had done.
There is no escaping God, for He is everywhere. We cannot escape from God because He wants us to return to Him. He will endlessly pursue us.
The God we know, love, and serve is the God who works in the lives of every person. Joseph’s brothers asked, “What is this that God hath done unto us?” What is God doing? God wants to show us our need, remind us of our deeds, and use those things to bring us to Himself.