Boast In The Lord January 28th, 2022
A Word From Tara Mezzasalma
"And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…" Genesis 50:20
"And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…" Genesis 50:20
Years ago, I sat watching the movie I Can Only Imagine. As I sat in that theater, God began to show a reel in my mind’s eye of the abusive and hostile home I grew up in. Memory after memory, moment after moment flooded back, vivid and unexpected. Then the vision zoomed out where I could see all of it in a bigger picture. And I became undone in that theater. I uncontrollably wept. I couldn’t speak and could barely breath and was incapable of pulling myself together. I was utterly overcome.
But here is the beautiful thing, I was NOT overcome with pain. I was NOT overcome with anger. I was NOT overcome with fear. Quite the opposite. I was utterly overcome in that moment because God is such a tender and gracious God. He showed me a reel of the things that no longer had power over me. I hadn’t even realized the depth of the freedom I was experiencing until that moment. And the magnitude of His redemptive hand in my life was too much to grasp.
The God we serve is in the very business of redemption. He takes the ugliest, most helpless and worthless things and He makes them new. He restores value and wholeness. He does that on a grand eternal scale when He takes our sins and washes us clean and offers us full forgiveness and adoption into His family as believers in Christ. But please do not miss it; that He redeems us on this side of eternity!
He takes what the enemy meant for evil and somehow, beyond all comprehension, turns it for good. It does not mean that the things that have happened cease to be evil. They were, and I would never minimize that. But it does mean that God can take the evil impact and turn it for good in your life.
The verse today was spoken by Joseph to his brothers who had done unimaginably evil things to him. The acts didn’t cease to be evil but their impact did. God ultimately took what was meant as pure evil and used it to save others. What if your unimaginable hurt could be turned into the very saving of others?
Some of the very things that threatened to break me are the things that God has used to allow me to pour into other people; to show that God’s hope and love are so very real. Moments I never thought I would be free from are moments I openly share because their power over me has been broken. They are a part of my testimony and have let people know that freedom in Christ is so very real.
This process has never looked like I thought it would or should. The road most often isn’t an easy one. But oh, how immeasurably worth it! What tremendous hope we have as believers that there is nothing that God cannot turn to good.
But here is the beautiful thing, I was NOT overcome with pain. I was NOT overcome with anger. I was NOT overcome with fear. Quite the opposite. I was utterly overcome in that moment because God is such a tender and gracious God. He showed me a reel of the things that no longer had power over me. I hadn’t even realized the depth of the freedom I was experiencing until that moment. And the magnitude of His redemptive hand in my life was too much to grasp.
The God we serve is in the very business of redemption. He takes the ugliest, most helpless and worthless things and He makes them new. He restores value and wholeness. He does that on a grand eternal scale when He takes our sins and washes us clean and offers us full forgiveness and adoption into His family as believers in Christ. But please do not miss it; that He redeems us on this side of eternity!
He takes what the enemy meant for evil and somehow, beyond all comprehension, turns it for good. It does not mean that the things that have happened cease to be evil. They were, and I would never minimize that. But it does mean that God can take the evil impact and turn it for good in your life.
The verse today was spoken by Joseph to his brothers who had done unimaginably evil things to him. The acts didn’t cease to be evil but their impact did. God ultimately took what was meant as pure evil and used it to save others. What if your unimaginable hurt could be turned into the very saving of others?
Some of the very things that threatened to break me are the things that God has used to allow me to pour into other people; to show that God’s hope and love are so very real. Moments I never thought I would be free from are moments I openly share because their power over me has been broken. They are a part of my testimony and have let people know that freedom in Christ is so very real.
This process has never looked like I thought it would or should. The road most often isn’t an easy one. But oh, how immeasurably worth it! What tremendous hope we have as believers that there is nothing that God cannot turn to good.
Lord God, thank you that you redeem the unredeemable. May we trust you in the process as we stand in faith that you will take what the enemy meant for evil and you will turn it for good. For those reading this today, I pray that you will meet them where they are. Whether that is in a season of rejoicing in the good you have made from evil; may they not neglect to thank you. Lord, for those who are in the midst of walking through the very thing that the enemy has meant for evil may you strengthen them. May the God of all hope fill them with joy and peace, despite their circumstances, so that they may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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