When Evil Plans Backfire

 

Monday, July 11, 2022

The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.  They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves.  The trouble they make for others backfires on them.  The violence they plan falls on their own heads.  I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.  Psalm 7:14-17

Conception, pregnancy, birth…a perfectly logical sequence, but when conception is the product of evil plans, the backfiring of such a pregnancy is justice.  In recent years we’ve seen a Ponzi scheme take down a greedy monster, Bernie Madhof, and sexual predators in the entertainment industry, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, wind up in prison.  The wheels of justice are still slowly grinding on the January 6^th investigation.  Those who plan for violence always succeed; they just don’t know it’s accumulating above their heads in a bubble that’s getting ready to burst!

Long before Bernie Madhof, Epstein and Maxwell, or the attack on our Capitol, Joseph’s brothers were unaware of that balloon.  They couldn’t stand their little brother, so they tossed him in a pit, eventually selling him to a band of nomadic human traffickers.  Joseph wound up a slave in Egypt, the result of his brothers’ evil plans. 

Fast forward 20 years and that same boy-dreamer, Joseph, is second in charge of Egypt’s empire, holding the keys to the food vault during a major famine.  And just whose brothers are sent to buy food from Joseph?  In the end, all the brothers could do was humble themselves at their brother Joseph’s feet, and plead for mercy. 

The payback of a malfunctioning trap stings!  But, in this case, God gave Joseph the spirit to take the high road.  He saw God’s purpose in his suffering and his brothers’ evil plans.  As the (now) helpless brothers bowed before their brother, Joseph, sitting on the throne, with the power to decide their fate, he forgives and blesses what was unforgiveable and cursed:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.  He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  Genesis 50:20

For You Today

If you’ve lived for five or ten minutes in this world you’ve run into someone who gave you some trouble (and you’ve probably caused a little trouble too).  The account of Joseph and his brothers is the account of the human race.  For each of us the question always begs an answer:  Whether you are the one doing the evil to another, or the one who has been wronged, what are you going to do about your brother? 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©