All Is For the Good

By Arthur J Licursi

Genesis 49:25-26 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 26The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Most Christians have read the Scripture account of Joseph’s experience. He was hated and betrayed by his brothers, and he was placed into terrible situations. He was thrown into a pit and left there by his own brothers and then taken captive. Genesis 37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. There Joseph suffered as a slave, but ultimately, under God’s hand, he worked up to a very powerful position under Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Joseph was in power over the Egyptian granaries at the time of famine to provide food to his starving family and brothers. The hand of God was at work in all this. Thus, everything that happened to Joseph was a blessing under the providence of God. What his brothers did to Joseph turned out to be a blessing. When Joseph made himself known to his brothers in Egypt, he said, "Genesis 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.” Joseph also said, “Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” Joseph seemed to be saying, “everything you did to me was for the good."

From this we can see that, as God children, we are blessed of God and that everything in our experience daily is a blessing to us – every circumstance and situation. Time, space, the heavens, the earth, the air, all persons, all matters, and all things, everything is a blessing to us.

Do we believe everything that happens to us is a blessing? In Jacob's prophecy of blessing over his children, there was a condition for blessing the first ten sons …but not with Joseph. Joseph's blessing is unconditional. Unconditionality is a type of the grace we live under today. Once we have come to see and believe this, we would simply pray for the Lord’s will to be done.

If “all things are now working for the good” for me (Rom 8:28), then I don't know that any happening as being good or bad for me. It’s all good. Even the most insignificant thing works together for your good. Our job, automobile, neighbors, in-laws, friends, seemingly terrible childhood, and sicknesses all work together for your good because you are blessed.

Every believer in this day of the dispensation of the grace of God (Eph 3:1-4) is as Joseph. Because you are as Joseph, everything that happens to you is an unconditional blessing. This is the reason the Apostle Paul writes “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20). We are those who live under the blessing of God. Ephes. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Have you ever noticed that we never see the Apostle Paul asking in prayer for physical healing for others of his own self, except the one time we see that he did ask and God corrected Him, saying “My grace is sufficient.” (My Christ in you is sufficient in all things.) We never otherwise see Paul praying for healing stuff, the conversion of specific people, jobs, money or the well-being of others of his own self. We do see him praying several times the going forth of the gospel, which is the “Christ in you” mystery gospel that he preached (Col 1:25-28a), and several times that the saints would gain “revelation,” “knowledge” and “understanding” of who and what Christ is to them by the power of the Gospel, which is Christ indwelling every believer (Eph 1:15-18).

Anyone who is or passes through our life was placed in our lives by the will of God and is to be a blessing. Since everything is a blessing to us, we cannot help but bless others. Even if others do something bad to us, that bad thing is a blessing. Hence, there is no need for us to curse them; instead of cursing, we would bless them. I can bless you in any kind of situation. If you treat me well, I bless you. If you mistreat me, I still bless you.

We must not live by what is seen – our values are eternal. We see that the invisible things are the eternal, while the visible things are temporal. Paul’s view was that all things were of the eternal God. In his so-called “prison epistles,” Paul says four times that he was the “prisoner of the Lord,” this was while he was in Caesar’s prison. Paul viewed Caesar in his life as being “of God.” It was Paul’s view that God’s Caesar that was a blessing to Paul.

We need to learn to know that we are the universally blessed people. Our home, family, and all that belongs to us are a blessing, no matter how bad things may sometimes be. We never know what the ultimate result of a thing will be. Only the Lord knows. Whether things are good or bad, the result is the same. To Joseph everything is a blessing. If you see this, you will enjoy the rest and peace that is in Christ who indwells you. We are the blessed people, and all things are ours. <END>