Golden Threads Of Grace

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20, NIV

IN A WHIRL of Marie Kondo tidying up, I took armfuls of books off my bookshelves and stacked them in the middle of the living room. My children joyfully jumped in and added their board books and paperbacks to the mountain of living room literature. The goal was to decide which books sparked joy and to which we could say “thank you” then let go into the world.

In all the movement and activity, I noticed my first-grader had stopped, sat down, and was quietly thumbing through something. I put down the stack of books in my arms and joined her. She had found our family photo albums from my kids’ first few years and was looking at the one that marked her older brother’s birth—the year that began my motherhood. At that time I would have told you it was the most challenging year of my life. He was born early, spent time in the NICU, didn’t sleep through the night for eight months, and my world as I knew it had evaporated.

Looking at this album a decade later was like putting on a new pair of glasses. I only saw the goodness of God. I saw the grace everywhere. I saw chubby cheeks, laughter, bonding, sandy beaches, and God’s provision for a baby we didn’t think we’d have. I was looking back and staring at grace.

Which is my favorite thing about Joseph in the book of Genesis. He was despised by his brothers, shoved in a pit and left for dead, sold to the Egyptians, wrongfully accused by Potiphar’s wife, jailed, and forgotten. His life was a series of wrongs made against him.

But God continually intervened. He brought about restoration and redemption by pulling Joseph out of jail and placing him at the right hand of Pharaoh, who made him Egypt’s second-in-command. He ended up saving Egypt, and consequently God’s chosen people, from famine and death. And after reuniting with his brothers, he responded to their repentance with today’s verse—speaking of God’s goodness and grace amid his difficulties. So much hardship was sewn in the fabric of Joseph’s life. And he chose to look back and find the grace woven through it all.

God is carefully and purposely weaving threads of goodness and grace through the fabric of our hardships, failures, and everyday problems. We need to practice looking back and recognizing the gold threads as they shine through. Let’s take the long view and celebrate the tapestry of grace.

GRACE REFLECTION: Pray with me, “God, thank You for bringing good out of my hardships and struggles. Help me to look back on Your faithfulness in my life and recognize Your goodness through it all. Amen.”