{"id":94525,"date":"2026-03-13T17:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T22:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=94525"},"modified":"2026-03-13T17:02:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T22:02:51","slug":"god-meant-it-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-meant-it-for-good\/","title":{"rendered":"God Meant It for Good"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n<p>In Genesis 50:20, Joseph famously tells his brothers, <em>&#8220;You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.&#8221; <\/em>This is one of the clearest statements in Scripture about God&#8217;s sovereignty over human actions. Joseph acknowledges the reality of their sin, yet he sees God&#8217;s purpose woven through it. This teaches us that God is not limited by human wrongdoing. He can turn what was intended for harm and redirect it toward redemption. Joseph&#8217;s perspective is not na\u00efve; it is shaped by years of seeing God&#8217;s hand in unexpected places.<\/p>\n<p>This truth gives us confidence when we face painful circumstances. God is not absent; He is actively working for good, even when the situation feels broken.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re carrying wounds from someone&#8217;s actions, Joseph&#8217;s words offer hope. God can redeem what others tried to ruin because His purpose is stronger than their intention.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Zeke Flores In Genesis 50:20, Joseph famously tells his brothers, &#8220;You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.&#8221; This is one of the clearest statements in Scripture about God&#8217;s sovereignty over human actions. Joseph acknowledges the reality of their sin, yet he sees God&#8217;s purpose woven through it. This teaches us&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[187],"class_list":["post-94525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-providence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69921,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/josephs-four-dreams\/","url_meta":{"origin":94525,"position":0},"title":"Joseph&#8217;s Four Dreams","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod Jacobs When reading about the birth of Christ, I saw something I had not seen before. Namely, the Bible records Joseph's four dreams before and after Christ's birth. Below, we will list the occasions of Joseph's dreams and then comment on them. (Please read the context of these\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-cross-was-an-ugly-torture-device\/","url_meta":{"origin":94525,"position":1},"title":"The Cross Was an Ugly Torture Device","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton That is true, but men meant evil, while God used it for our good. How can a torture device be made for our good and bless us with forgiveness of sins? It is not the device itself, as if the physical item holds some mystical magic.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94283,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/acknowledging-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":94525,"position":2},"title":"Acknowledging God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores In Genesis 41:16, when Pharaoh asks Joseph to interpret his dream, Joseph replies, \"It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh the answer.\"\u00a0This is a profound statement about the source of wisdom. Joseph stands before the most powerful man in the world, yet he refuses to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54966,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/after-twenty-two-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":94525,"position":3},"title":"After Twenty-Two Years","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton The story of Joseph is remarkable for many reasons. His visions set him at odds with his brothers who would eventually sell him to a passing band of Midianites (without Reuben's knowledge). He would be sold on the slavery block to the captain of Pharaoh's guard where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0058-1-248x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92970,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sovereignty-of-god-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":94525,"position":4},"title":"The Sovereignty of God (Benton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I recently saw someone suggest that Calvinists would change John 3:19 to read: \"And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, but I sovereignly chose not to regenerate them, so they had no choice but to love darkness instead.\" This would need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39133,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-joseph-want-his-bones-dug-up-and-buried-in-the-promised-land\/","url_meta":{"origin":94525,"position":5},"title":"Why did Joseph want his bones dug up and buried in the Promised Land?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Joseph want his bones dug up and buried in the Promised Land? Answer: Joseph prophesied that Israel would not remain in Egypt. To demonstrate his confidence in God's promise, Joseph insisted that when they left, they would take his bones and bury them in Canaan -- a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}