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Useful Idiots

With All Due Respect

Joseph’s submission to the sovereignty of God allowed him to see the pain his brothers had inflicted not merely through his own perspective alone, but through a perspective that saw God working through their evil actions. He recognized that in all the circumstances of life, big and small, good and bad, God had been inexorably bringing the currents of his personal history to a providential conclusion. His brothers might have been idiots for selling him into slavery twenty plus years before, but they were useful idiots in the hands of the Providential Ruler of all mankind.

Going Deep // Focus: Genesis 45:5

Don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.

Useful idiots! With all due respect (it’s odd that we use that term when we’re about to disrespect someone), that’s what I would call Joseph’s brothers. Or I could clean it up a bit and call them unwitting but useful instruments in the hands of a sovereign God.

Twenty plus years after they had sold him into slavery, the brothers are now standing before Joseph, and they don’t even recognize him. They have been blinded by two decades of thinking he had long since died, their perspective jaded by the haunting fear, endless guilt and corrosive shame of what they had done. (Genesis 44:16) Finally, when Joseph’s identity is revealed, the brothers expect him to exact revenge, make them pay dearly and do to them what they had done to him.

But Joseph was cut from a different cloth than these lousy brothers. His submission to the sovereignty of God allowed him to see the pain they had inflicted not merely through his own perspective alone, but through a perspective that saw God working through their evil actions. Joseph recognized that in all the circumstances of life, big and small, good and bad, God had been inexorably bringing the currents of his personal history to a providential conclusion.

Joseph’s submission to the sovereignty of God is revealed three times as he discloses himself to his brothers with words to this effect: “Don’t beat yourself up; it was God, not you, who sent me here. You had a plan and God had a plan, and God’s plan trumped yours. You were simply unwitting but useful instruments in his hands.” (Genesis 45:5,7,8). Joseph’s brothers might have been idiots for selling him into slavery twenty plus years before, but they were useful idiots in the hands of the Providential Ruler of all mankind.

The bottom line to Joseph’s story is that God is in control. He turns what is meant for evil to our good, extracts glory for himself even in the most impossible circumstances, and no matter what, always, always, always fulfills his sovereign purposes. He is in control! He is the Sovereign God of the universe, the Providential Ruler over the affairs, big and small, of all mankind, the Incomparable One who works all things for his glory.

And here’s the kicker: He works all things not only for his own glory—but for your good! That’s right—for your good. Now why would the Sovereign, Providential, Incomparable One bother with little old you? Simply because you’ve surrendered your life to him; and when you did that, you, perhaps even unwittingly, signed up to be on his sovereign benefits plan.

So here’s the deal: If you have a few idiots making your life difficult, just remember, in God’s hands they are useful idiots.

Going Deeper With God: Here is a prayer you might want to offer today: “Sovereign Lord, today I express my trust that you will use what was hurtful to me for your glory and my good. I will refuse to allow bitterness and unforgiveness to take root in my spirit. Rather, by faith I will choose to see you actively at work in me.”

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The Road To Restoration

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is Near"

The Gospel literally begins with the word “repent.” That’s because salvation starts with a repentant heart. In an age when believers, for fear of being offensive, are afraid to call out moral wrong, warn of divine judgment, and invite people to repent, let’s not forget that no one—not a single human being—is ever made right with God without first expressing sorrow for their sin, admitting their guilt, and making the decision to change their ways to follow God’s way—which is what repentance is. Nothing could be truer: spiritual restoration starts with sincere repentance.tion starts with sincere repentance.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 44:14-16

Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?” Judah replied, “What can we say to my lord? What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”

Without knowing the full context of this story (Genesis 37-45), you might think that Joseph is exacting a pound of flesh from his brothers. They had horribly mistreated him two decades before. Wanting to murder him, they ultimately had thrown him into a pit, then sold him into slavery, which landed Joseph in Egypt where he was again sold to another master. His brothers were not just angry with him, not just jealous of their father’s preference for him—they actually profited off of their cruelty to him. They went as low as human beings can go.

As the story goes, Joseph’s mistreatment continued in Egypt for twenty years, until finally, as God providentially directed the affairs of Joseph’s life, the Lord raised him to the second highest position in the land. At the same time, again God providentially used a region-wide famine to direct these same brothers back to Joseph to plead, first for food, then for their very lives. All of this, by the way, was the exact fulfillment (Genesis 44:14) of the dreams Joseph had told his brothers years before (Genesis 37:10) that had unleashed their murderous hatred and insane outrage against him.

In this story, Joseph, his identity not recognized to his brothers, allows them to plead their case before him. He listens as they unfold their story, pleading their integrity, protesting their innocence, yet admitting their guilt. (Genesis 44:16) His brother, Judah, even offers to substitute his life as a payment for the punishment Joseph will inflict on their youngest sibling, Benjamin. (Genesis 44:33-34)

As Joseph allows this to slowly play out, one gets the sense that he has rehearsed this very moment over and over in his mind for years. Perhaps he had; he’d had a long time in a lonely prison cell to think of the evil his brothers had done to him, and what he would do if he ever had the upper hand on them. But being the man of integrity and godly character that we observe in the chapters surrounding this story, Joseph was not at all slowly, painfully extracting an admission of guilt from them, as if somehow that would make up for all the years that had been lost from the family. No, this was not about revenge, it was about repentance. Joseph was allowing them to come to grips with their evil, and to verify if their sorrow was simply because they had gotten caught or if they were truly sorry for their sin against him. Obviously, they recognized their guilt, not just before Joseph, but before Almighty God: “God has uncovered your servants’ guilt.” (Genesis 44:16)

Ultimately necessary to restoration of the broken relationship between Joseph and the brothers was their repentance. Repentance would lead to the offer of restitution, which was appropriate, but as we see, graciously not demanded by Joseph (Genesis 50:15-21) and the reconciliation that Joseph offered back to them. Of course, the story has many levels of application: It provides the history of how the people of God move through the course of time. It demonstrates the dynamics of family restoration. Most importantly, it reminds us of the sovereignty of God in moving the course of events to fulfill his purposes in the world—and in our lives. But this also provides for us a picture of repentance and our restoration to God.

And the salient point as it relates to spiritual restoration is that it all starts with repentance. In point of fact, the New Testament Gospel literally beings with the word “repent.” When John the Baptist announced the coming of the Messiah, he proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2) When Jesus launched his public ministry, he preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17) Salvation begins with repentance—no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.

It all starts with repentance. In a age when believers are afraid to call people to repent for fear of being offensive, or not liked, or actually telling the world that they are morally wrong and in danger of divine judgment, we must remember that no one—not a single human being—get’s to “pass go or collect $200” without first expressing sorrow for sin, admitting guilt before a holy God, and offering to change both way of thinking and behaving to walk in obedience to his way. And that is what biblical repentance means.

It all starts with repentance. Let’s never forget that. If we do, we, and those we are trying to reach, are dead in the water.

Furthermore, let’s never forget what a gift God has given us in making the provision for authentic repentance. For by it, the guilty are pardoned and the undeserving are showered in his grace. Thank God for repentance!

Going Deeper: Repentance is more than just an apology. It is to change your thinking and to change your way; to turn and move in the opposite direction—the right path toward God. Is there any area of your life that you need to offer to God in repentance? Today is the day!

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You’ll Get Rained On

God Keeps Us In The Storm, Not From It

God didn’t promise to keep us from either the famine or the storm, but he did promise to bring us through them. Moreover, he promised to actually use them to bring about his good plan in ways that otherwise wouldn’t be produced if we had been preserved from them. So if you are in a storm, start singing in the rain—the Son is coming.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 43:1-2

Now the famine was still severe in the land. So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

In Matthew 5:45, Jesus said something of the universal goodness and common grace of God to which we all nod in glad agreement, pointing out that our Heavenly Father “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” But what happens when that same sun that warms the body beats down mercilessly upon not only the heads of the unjust, but on the just as well? What happens when, as children of our Father in heaven, the same God-sent rain that causes the crops to sprout rains on our parade?

If you are like me—even though I know better—I begin to question God’s goodness and his personal love for me. When unfair and unwanted circumstance find their way into my life, my sense of fairness is assaulted and my assumption that bad things shouldn’t happen to good people is shocked back to reality. I know better, but I still tend to drift into that ditch of despair. I’ll bet you do too.

In truth, bad things happen to good and bad people alike. I don’t like that, but that’s the way it always has been and always will be in this world broken by sin that we live in for the time being. Jacob and his family, flawed as they were, found themselves suffering the same famine as the wicked, godless people of Egypt were enduring. Bummer—the same sun that torched the Egyptians scorched the Israelites.

But here’s where the redeeming benefits of being the children of our Father in heaven kick in: He didn’t promise to keep us from either the famine or the storm, but he did promise to bring us through them. Moreover, he promised to actually use them to bring about his good plan—both his larger plan for the world and his personal plan for our lives—through our problems in ways that otherwise wouldn’t be produced if we had been preserved from them.

Now I don’t always understand why he works that way, and I certainly wouldn’t do it that way if I were God—but I am not. And when I step back from my childish expectation and shortsighted perspective, I can see that God has a long and perfect track record of bringing his people through their painful difficulties to a glorious conclusion. And because of that exemplary record of faithfulness and goodness, in the words of Corrie Ten Boom, I will never need to “be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” He will see me through.

Jacob and his sons were scorched by a famine, and though they could not see the guiding hand of God in their desperate time of need, nonetheless, God was at work, maneuvering them, both in the short term and for the long run, to a place of greater blessing and greater usefulness.

And as far as you are concerned, even when the same famine that is touching the evil is touching you, or to switch weather analogies, even when your parade is getting rained on, you can trust him. Seriously!

So start singing in the rain!

Going Deeper: If you are praying for relief from an unpleasant and unwanted circumstance and God is not bringing relief as quickly as you would like, realize that he may be leading you to a place of greater blessing and greater usefulness. Why not take a moment to rejoice in advance?

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You’re Worth It

He Endured The Cross For You

“For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.” (Heb. 12:2) What was this “joy” that so motivated Jesus to go through the most humiliating, torturous death when he didn’t have to? It was you, my friend—you were the joy Jesus felt in his heart as his hands and feet were nailed to the cross. And when his mind’s eye saw that you would one day stand with him as one of the redeemed before his Father’s throne, his heart swelled even as the life drained from his body, and he said, “it’s worth it!” All the pain and shame of the cross was worth it to Jesus, because you’re worth it!

Holy Saturday Reflection: Mark 15:24

Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross.

The account of the betrayal, arrest, trial, suffering and crucifixion of Jesus is moving beyond words. As you read again his description of what Jesus went through, I would encourage you to remember that Jesus didn’t have to go through this. But he did—and the reason was you.

The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. (Mark 15:16-20)

He did it for you! Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.” What was this “joy” that so motivated Jesus to go through the most humiliating, torturous death? I am convinced, my friend, that you were the joy Jesus saw as he hung there on the cross. And when he saw that you would one day stand with him as one of the redeemed before his Father’s throne, his heart swelled even as the life drained from his body, and he said, “it’s worth it!”

All the suffering and humiliation of the cross was worth it to Jesus, because you’re worth it.

Just take a minute before you do anything else today and offer your heartfelt thanks to God yet again for what he did by placing Jesus on the cross in your stead.

A Simple Prayer:

God, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for my salvation, so rich, so free.
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Good Friday Reflection: Thoroughly and Barely Saved

What Makes Us Worthy of Salvation? Absolutely Nothing!

What was it that made the repentant thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus worthy of salvation—even if it was at the very last minute of his life? The same thing that makes you and me worthy of our salvation: Absolutely nothing. The thief had no time for a single good deed nor time to make right his long list of wrongs. All he could do was recognize his own guilt, receive the redemptive righteousness of Jesus, and rest his eternity in the mercy and grace of God. By the way, that is all anyone can do to be saved.

The Journey: Luke 23:42-43

Then the thief said to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Two thieves hung on the cross, with Jesus between them. One of them joined the mocking crowd in hurling insults at the Lord, but the other hurled himself upon the mercy of God. And, according to Jesus’ own words, he was thoroughly saved that day, even if it was just barely.

The penitent thief had done no good works, had no track record of righteousness, had no opportunity to make right all the wrongs he had done. Yet Jesus assured him that within hours, he would be at the Lord’s side in eternity.

So what was it that made him worthy of salvation—even if it was at the very last minute of his life? The same thing that makes you and me worthy of our salvation: Absolutely nothing.

All the man could do was recognize his own guilt (“Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes…”), believe in the redemptive righteousness of Jesus (“but this man hasn’t done anything wrong….”), and entrust his eternity to the mercy and grace of God (“Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”)

By the way, that is all anyone can do to be saved. The thief was thoroughly saved that day; as saved as you, me, or those who have faithfully served the Lord their entire lives. And that is the whole basis for the Gospel. That is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion: Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Every other religious effort to attain eternal life is based on what we do. But what we do, no matter how much we do and how well we do it, can never be enough to satisfy a perfect and holy God.

Christianity is based on what Jesus did for us on the cross. Only by acknowledging our sinfulness, believing in his atoning work, and receiving him by faith can we appropriate the grace of God that thoroughly saves us for all eternity.

And that’s the Good News.

Going Deeper: Take a moment before you do anything else and offer this prayer: Lord, if my salvation was based on what I could do, I would never make it. Thank you, Lord, that it is based solely on what you did! I will be eternally indebted to your grace and mercy. Praise you, Lord, for I am thoroughly saved for all eternity!

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Sowing, Reaping and Praying for a Crop Failure

Grace Works Hope and Mercy

No child of God needs to fear a horrible harvest for past sins. God specializes in crop failures. Sure, there are consequences for sin sometimes, but God promises to turn even those to our good if we “have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) John Newton wrote, “We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 42:28 & 36

Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?’ … ‘Everything is against me!”

If you’ve been around the Bible much, you know this story well. Joseph’s brothers, out of envy, anger and hatred, sold Joseph into slavery to nomads travelling to Egypt. A decade or two later, unknown to the brothers, Joseph has made an improbable rise to power, and now sits as second in command of the most powerful nation on earth.

Now forced to scrounge for food in Egypt during a severe famine, the tables are turned on the brothers: they stand face-to-face with Joseph, first bowing before him (a fulfillment of Joseph’s dream; the one that originally got him into hot water with the brothers), then begging for food, and ultimately begging for their very lives. And all the time their minds cannot fathom that it is actually Joseph with whom they are pleading.

There are so many things we could say about this chapter and its larger context: Like the sovereignty of God that allowed Joseph’s mistreatment in prior years as the very means to preserve his family down the road. Or how God always squeezes good out of evil for his children. Or how Joseph remains faithful and useful to God even when the evidence suggested that God had abandoned him. Or how Joseph left retribution, revenge and judgment in God’s hands, even when the best of men would have been tempted to exact a pound of flesh from these ornery brothers once Joseph had them dead to rights.

And don’t miss the application in all of those relevant truths: God will do that for you, too, if you will trust him with your life—both in the good times and especially in the bad when the evidence seems contrary to a loving God who is supposed to be in control.

But the one feature of this particular part of the story that intrigues me is the load of guilt this family carried for all those years, obviously paralyzing them with regret, the fear of receiving their just desserts and the onerous sense that they will have to pay an impossible price to make up for their evil actions in the past:

Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” (Genesis 42:26)

Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!” (Genesis 42:36)

Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring Benjamin back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.” (Genesis 42:37)

So what are the take away’s for you and me from the story of these messed up brothers?

First, as it relates to the brothers, no sinful action is worth the temporary satisfaction or pleasure it falsely promises—ever! The guilt, harm and forfeiture of God’s blessings are a horrible crop to reap at some point, either sooner or perhaps later down the road.

Second, as it relates to Jacob and his lingering dread, no child of God needs to fear a horrible harvest for past sins. God specializes in crop failures. Sure, there are consequences for sin sometimes, but God promises to turn even those to our good if we “have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) As John Newton so profoundly wrote, “We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”

Third, as it relates to Reuben’s assumption that he could assuage divine punishment, no personal sacrifice for sin will be needed for the child of God to cancel his punishment since God sent his very own Son, of whom Joseph was a type, to once and for all pay the price to satisfy God’s righteous wrath rightly directed at our sin. (Hebrews 10:8-14)

I’m so glad to be a follower of Jesus and not a child of Jacob, aren’t you! God’s unlimited, unmerited grace, purchased by Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, is a far better way.

Going Deeper: If you are living under a load of guilt and fear, or the sense that somehow you must make it up to God, meditate on and pray these truths back to God: Guilt—Romans 8:1-4; Fear—I John 1:9, Human effort to appease God—Hebrews 10:8-14. Then allow grace to wash away what doesn’t belong in the Christian’s life.

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What Are You Waiting For?

In Your Wait, God Is At Work

When the Sovereign Lord planned each of your days, even before you were born, his plan permitted unpleasant people and undesirable circumstances to be included in some of those days. Why? To develop in you something very special to him: the fruit of patience. Learn to embrace the things that try your patience, because there will be no opportunity in heaven to learn it.

The Journey// Focus: Genesis 41:1,14-15

Another two full years passed while Joseph languished in prison, then Pharaoh has a dream. … Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

Another two years passed. Joseph had already been in prison for years—due to no fault of his own. Now there had come a glimmer of hope in Genesis 40 when he had accurately interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners—officials of Pharaoh—that they would be released. His only request was that they would remember him when there were out, and speak kindly of him so that he too, could be released. They didn’t. They promptly forgot.

And it would seem, behind their forgetfulness was the forgetfulness of God. Why would God allow this righteous man to languish for another two years in a fetid Egyptian prison? Why?

Why—that is the question we all have at some point in our walk of faith. And since an adequate answer to that question is likely to escape our finite understanding, it is important that we grow in patience, trust,and expectancy as we await the fulfillment of God’s plan for our lives. We know that, of course, but it is much easier said than done. Nevertheless, let me remind us again today of why you and I must develop these virtues in our faith journey.

James, the first leader of the church, wrote, “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

Whatever is lacking in your life right now, patience, along with trust and expectancy, is what will bring it to you!

The nineteenth-century preacher A. B. Simpson said it this way: “Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience…If you are to practice these things, it must be now.”

M. H. Lount wrote, “best gifts come slowly…growth and strength in waiting are results often greater than the end so impatiently longed for.”

God’s first concern for our lives is our growth, not our gratification. That’s why he often withholds what we would prefer and allows us to experience long-term difficulty until we have learned to fully trust him. Again, that requires industrial-strength patience.

It is said that Joseph Hayden wrote a musical piece in which the flute player did not play a note until the 75th measure. And then, that flute player had only one note to play. On that 75th measure, on the upbeat, the flute player was to play that one and only note. And that was it. One of the flute players in the Boston Symphony said, “When Hayden wrote that musical piece, he had a very special, patient person in mind.”

When the Sovereign Lord, whom the Bible says has ordered every one of your days, even before one of them came into existence, saw fit to allow unpleasant people or undesirable circumstances to be a part of your life, he had you, a very special and potentially patient, trusting, expectant person in mind.

That is the process by which God shapes your life. So how can you learn to work with God in a way that allows him to transform you into an instrument of usefulness? Let me suggest three things:

Pray: Begin the process of growing in patience by simply asking God for it. God, the core of whose very character is patience, is the source of it. In James 1:2-3 we’re taught that the end result of the patience process is wisdom. And what does James say about wisdom? That if any of us lacks it we should ask God for it because he will give it generously.

So if he will supply the wisdom generously, we can back up in the process to ask for the patience as well, and expect to receive it. We simply and boldly need to ask for patience.

Evaluate: What are the areas where you tend to be most impatient. Perhaps it happens to be with how you respond to your family or maybe the people you work with would say you’re a short-tempered person. Maybe you are not considering the trials in your life with pure joy; you are not giving perseverance a chance to develop character; you are not appreciating that character tempered by patience is what produces Biblical hope in you. Or maybe you are impatient with God’s timing in your life.

Identify your top two or three areas of impatience, and then get some help with them. Enter into accountability with someone who will hold your feet to the fire in terms of your behavior, who will give you the words of encouragement needed to stay patient, and will faithfully pray for you as you go through the process.

Reflect: Practice the discipline of remembering and reflecting when you are tempted to be impatient. When you are about to fly off the handle remember how patient and long-suffering God has been with you. Make a study of and memorize as many of the verses on impatience and anger as you can, like Proverbs 29:11, “A stupid man gives free reign to his anger, but a wise man waits and lets it grow cool.” Soak in God’s truth until it gets into the very fabric of your being.

When you are getting weary of waiting, reflect on the purpose of God in your circumstance: that he is bringing you to maturity, and the vehicle that will get you there is patience. Reflect on Romans 5:3-5 which says, “Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us.”

Give intentional effort to the practice of patience. If you will, you will grow in trust of God. And when you have developed trust, you will ultimately experience the redeemed realization of all that you expect.

Going Deeper: Patience…trust…expectation. Reframe your thinking and start thanking God for every opportunity to exhibit these eternal qualities.