(18) And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold we be thy servants. (19) And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? (20) But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass this day, to save much people alive. ( Genesis 50: 18-20 KJV)

The year 2017 has been one of the worst years of my life! To be honest I never looked forward to saying goodbye to a year as much as I was looking forward to saying goodbye to the year 2017! I was beaten physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Even in all of that though was the one thing I don’t doubt. That God was using the year 2017 for my good! Nothing that happened to me in the past year was designed to kill me, even though at times it felt as though it was especially when I was going through them. No, instead it was designed to build me up. God allowed me to go through that year to show me who he was not just in general, but to show me who he is in my life. That no matter how bad it got, that he was still a constant source of strength for me.

One of the things that I love about the above scripture is that it serves as a reminder to me that evil may and most certainly will come for us, but even in that God will take it and use it for our good! I’m not going to lie some of the beatings that I took in 2017 were because of a direct result of my actions, but even in that God will still take it and turn it around for my good! in verse 20 it mentions as it is this day to save much people alive. Now obviously I am not Joseph and God is not going to use my trial to save a nation, but I do believe that he will use what I have gone through to help someone in their situation. Not just me, but you as well! What is that thing that you have gone through it may not have been this past year. It could have been five years ago, ten, but what is that thing in your life that you went through that you know that you went through it so that you may feed somebody else. You see Joseph went through 13 years of imprisonment and affliction all so that he may feed somebody else! A whole nation that would have died out had it not been for his intervention! The enemy would love nothing more for you to die out in your afflictions because your story is going to encourage and give hope to somebody else. I’m talking to that single parent whether mom or dad who  feels as though it’s too much to bear on your own. Look around and see that God is your constant supply of support and strength don’t be surprised when other single parents come to you asking how did you make it through. That’s who God intended for you to feed. I’m talking to that couple who struggles with infertility and you don’t know if God is going to answer your prayer and your bitter because no one understands your struggle to have what some take for granted. When you get through it and God blesses you with that child don’t forget what you had to go through and especially don’t forget those struggling with the same issue that you once had. I’m referring to the one who lost a child, whether if it was through sickness, violence, or an accident a loss is a loss. There’s no one better to encourage someone who is going through a loss such as you. I’m talking to the ex drug addict, ex alcoholic, to the rape survivor, and the one who escaped that abusive relationship. This is for the former prostitute and the one who had the low self-esteem, it’s for those who suffer with anxiety and depression and any other type of mental illness. I’m talking to my amputee survivors who had to learn live life all over again but who didn’t let that stop them! I am talking to that cancer survivor and the one who is living with HIV. You see all of these things that I have named and even those things that I didn’t name. It was the evil that the enemy had hoped would stop you in your tracks. God never meant for it to stop you instead that trial and test was designed to grow you and strengthen you in Romans it states.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

All things! That means even all the evil that has come against us, even that is working for us. For our over all good. It’s so easy to believe that God is working on our behalf when things are going right, but I find comfort in this scripture when times are tough and I may begin to feel that there is no way that God will be able to use this for my good, especially when it was in those times when I messed up. Even in that though, it’s still working for my good! I want to take you back to Genesis.

And his brethren also went down and fell down before his face; and they said, behold, we be thy servants. ( Genesis 50:18)

God was showing me something in this. His brothers were the reason that Joseph had spent 13 years of his life imprisoned, but they were also the reason why Joseph was able to save Israel. God was showing me this though, eventually that thing that came against you, you know that thing that desired to take you out. One day its going to come and bow before you. To bow before someone is to reverence to someone or even something. for some of you it may be a person who has wronged you in the past coming to say that their sorry for how they treated you. For others it could be a sickness or an addiction that use to have control over you now you have dominion over it. Joseph brothers made the statement behold, we be thy servants. The thing about being a servant is that it doesn’t tell you what to do, but you tell it what it may or may not do. My point is that God is bringing you to a place where it will no longer have control over you. I want to leave you with Joseph’s words to his brothers. Fear not: for am I in the place of God. This is for those who will have someone who wronged you in the past come and apologize. remember that you’re not in the place of God so forgive them and don’t hold it against them. Remember they may have verily well-meant it for your evil, but God worked it out for your good!

God’s blessings,

Aqua.