PLOT TWISTS
Opening Prayer
God, I bring my most immediate challenges before You. I throw my anxieties at Your feet and receive Your peace.
Read Acts 7:9–19
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[a] 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
Footnotes
- Acts 7:18 Exodus 1:8
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What unfortunate circumstance are you facing right now?There is a game I play with my children on car journeys sometimes, called ‘Fortunately, unfortunately.’ We tell a story, taking turns to add to the plot, each person starting their contribution with either ‘Fortunately…’ or ‘Unfortunately….’ Today’s passage could have been crafted around this concept: Unfortunately, Joseph was sold as a slave. Fortunately, God was with him and so he gained favor with Pharaoh. Unfortunately, there was a famine. Fortunately, there was grain in Egypt. Unfortunately, this led to 400 years of suffering in Egypt. You get the picture.
Life can feel like a series of setbacks and recoveries, can’t it? All the drama is exhausting and, if you are like me, you may sometimes wonder if the next setback will be the end of everything.
The story of the world, the story of the church, Stephen’s story (of which more next week) and our own stories have a ‘fortunately’ to crush any possible ‘unfortunately’ times along the way, however. Fortunately, we have a Savior who has secured our happy ending. Of this we can be sure.
Apply
Start with your circumstance and say, ‘unfortunately…’ then follow up your statement with a ‘fortunately [insert promise or character truth of God]’. See how this ‘game’ can impact you today.
Closing prayer
Jesus, thank You for being my Savior, not just from sin, but even from the sorrows and struggles of this life.
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