Why?

Why? We ask that about things we want to know more about. But we also ask it as a form of protest. We really mean we are angry that something is happening - or not happening. In these situations, we probably don’t want a reasonable explanation. We want it to happen our way, or stop happening and return to the way it was - in other words, just be the way we think it should be.

In Genesis 37, we aren’t told what Joseph was thinking when his brothers sold him as a slave, but we can guess he was thinking just about the way we would have. But God was in his whole situation. As Paul wrote under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, in Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good...." Young Joseph undoubtedly reproached himself for the things he’d said that angered his brothers, but it was blame he did not need to accept, for God had a wonderful purpose in mind for His people.

Dear Heavenly Father, please help us to learn to look for Your purpose instead of grumbling "Why?" and/or taking blame on ourselves when things don’t go the way we think they ought to. Please help us seek Your plan, Father, and abandon our own agendas. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.