4.21.2026 - Lisa Liou

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Genesis 50:20 (CEB)

You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it, in order to save the lives of many people, just as he’s doing today.

Yesterday, we talked about how God’s will is perfectly carried out in heaven, while on earth we often see things that are contrary to his good and loving purposes—even as nothing falls outside his sovereign care. This verse, spoken by Joseph to his brothers who threw him in a pit and then sold him, gives us a clear example of that tension and how God works within it.

Knowing the whole story, if we wanted to oversimplify, we might say, “It was God’s will that Joseph should be sold into slavery so that he could become Pharaoh’s right-hand man and save God’s chosen people from famine.” However, it is important for us to be more precise and to incorporate Joseph’s own testimony into our understanding.

God’s will is for brothers to live in harmony. God does not delight in jealousy, violence, or the selling of another human being. These are the sins Joseph’s brothers committed. God is not the author of these sins. Their actions caused deep harm to Joseph and his father, Jacob, separating them for years and bringing profound grief, which we see in the many times Joseph weeps in the final chapters of Genesis. A happy ending does not erase the real pain that was experienced.

Joseph’s brothers were acting in ways that were completely out of step with heaven. And yet, our sovereign God is able to redeem sin and brokenness. This is what he does in Joseph’s story. What the brothers intended for harm, God used for good—placing Joseph in a position where he could preserve life and carry forward God’s promises to his people.

God did not abandon Joseph to the consequences of others’ sin. Instead, he was present with him and ultimately raised him up, even giving him the dignity of participating in reconciliation and accountability.

Genesis 50:20 shows us something essential about God’s will: God can bring about his good purposes even through evil actions—not because he delights in them, but because he is able to redeem what is broken. This is the very essence of the gospel. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, we see God’s ultimate act of redemption—bringing salvation out of the greatest evil.

Too often, we take a shortcut and assume that if something good comes out of a situation, then the painful or sinful parts must have been God’s will. But Scripture invites us into a more careful understanding. God’s good and perfect will is always consistent with his character, while sin and brokenness distort the world as he created it. Redemption is the way God works within that brokenness to bring about his purposes.

Perhaps as you are reading or listening to this, you feel a lingering sting from something you have come to believe was “God’s will” for your life. I want to invite you to make a gentle shift. Begin by asking yourself: Is this how things are meant to be in heaven?

If the answer is no, consider reframing the experience.

For example, I went through a painful experience of feeling deeply called to a job and then finding myself in second place. On top of that, it happened abruptly, and I did not feel treated fairly.

Here is how I would reframe it:

God’s will is for me to thrive in the gifts and calling he has given me, and for people to treat one another with dignity and honor. What happened was not in line with those good purposes. And yet, God sees me, cares for me, and remains at work. He is redeeming this loss, even now, by shaping in me a deeper compassion for others who are walking through disappointment and pain.

What about you? Where has your experience on earth fallen short of God’s good purposes in your life or neighborhood? Take a moment to ask God to show you his redemptive work, even there.