You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. (Genesis 50:20)
If you were to drive past the football practice field just behind our local high school, you would see a wooden tower standing eighteen to twenty feet in the air. There’s nothing fancy about this structure. It looks like it may have been built by some volunteer dads.
My guess is that few people who drive down Murray Lane ever see this tower, and even if they do, I doubt if they have any idea what it’s for.
But you know, don’t you? It’s for the coaches during practice. Climbing up to the raised platform gives them a different look at various plays and strategies. It gives them perspective—something that can be a lot more difficult standing at ground level.
The next time you see a tower next to a practice field, see Joseph standing there. Perhaps God’s greatest gift to this man, whose story ends today, was the ability to get up off the field of daily activities and disappointments and see things from a different viewpoint.
Many men, faced with the failures and seemingly insurmountable challenges Joseph faced, would have quit. He was despised by his brothers, sold like a dog, thrown into prison on a bum rap, and working a nation out of bankruptcy. But God gave Joseph a different look. God helped him “look down” on these events and realize that, in God’s sovereign mercy, each had happened for his own good and the survival of his family. “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good.” Now there’s a panoramic look.
What has happened to you and your family that makes you wonder if God knows what He’s doing? How have these events affected you? Are they keeping you awake at night? Does anyone know? Are you on the field, trying to figure out what’s going on—with a 350-pound sophomore linebacker on top of you—or are you in the tower of God’s perspective?
Ask Him to lift you up. He’s the same God who lifted Joseph, and He’ll do it for you.