A Daily Devotion for Thursday, February 26

Genesis 45:1-8

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 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.

Romans 8:28

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This morning I am going to sort of cheat, but I know God won’t mind. As I was looking back in Romans to see what came just before verse 28, I read 26 and 27, and knew God was reassuring me today with these two verses. So, I am going to include them here:

Romans 8:26-27……… In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

These verses help me to know that if I am hurting, and don’t know how to put my experience into words, God’s Holy Spirit is interceding for me, communicating to God even through ‘wordless groans’. And the Spirit’s intercession is in accordance with the will of God. And so it follows that God is working things out for us, through spoken and unspoken prayers, and according to His perfect will.

Father God, I am so very thankful for all that you have done, are doing, and will do, for your creation. Thank you for giving me a tiny glimpse of your perfect will, from time to time. Amen

Becky, transforming