7"God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
8"Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
There is no way for me to understand why God took Joseph through all the crazy things that he endured to bring him to this place in Genesis 45 where he came face to face with those who tried to destroy him! Then, God's plan included Joseph's forgiveness, restoration and blessings upon the guilty! However, in my 30+ years as a believer, I have seen God do some pretty weird things in my life, too! This story has given me hope and encouragement as I persevered in situations that were incomprehensible at the time.
Even now, there is a man I know who seems to be in a weird Joseph like situation. The situation is really awful and the repercussions extremely hurtful. This man did deserve being in prison in the first place, but has repented and there is much evidence of true life change. As I think and pray for this man, Joseph's story once again gives me hope in our great God that He has it all under control. He is the preserver and great deliverer for His people. God's ways are not our ways and when His ways seem weird, we can remember the God of Joseph and how God brought protection, forgiveness, restoration and blessings through that very weird situation as Joseph kept his focus on God and not on the situation.