And we know...

...that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28

I made it to the end of Genesis today - with a journey to Job in the middle. This has never happened before. Many times have I begun the journey through Genesis. Many times have I made it through the story of Noah and that marked the end. I'd never even read the book of Job in its entirety. What an awe-inspiring, fruit-producing, thanks-provoking thing, to truly read God's Word for the first time...this Word, filled with such glorious, epic, truthful story. I'm more convinced than ever, that God has created us to love story. The intrigue, the romance, the devastation, the redemption, the overcoming of odds, the transforming power of grace. I'm reminded today that we are written into God's story...our day-to-day lives masterfully woven into the tapestry of history - His Story. I imagine these "life threads" to be like variegated yarn...changing from one color to another and back again...as we walk down the path that is our life. I pray and trust that as my life is continually woven into God's epic, He'll fashion it into something beautiful...even with all the variations of color, the dark hues, the bright and sparkly, the golds and the murky grays...each reflecting the tossings and turnings, the highs and lows, the ebb and flow of my willingness to trust in Him. Today I choose to surrender to His almighty plan for my life. Today I choose to let Him weave the pattern of His choosing.

Back to Genesis...which ends with the death of Joseph. We have the benefit of seeing all of Joseph's life from beginning to end...we see the overarching hand of God in the midst of the trials Joseph found himself in. We see the threads as God weaves them back and forth through the fabric of Joseph's circumstances. As I re-read David Guzik's commentary, this list caught my eye:

• If Joseph’s brothers never sell him to the Midianites, then Joseph never goes to Egypt. 
• If Joseph never goes to Egypt, he never is sold to Potiphar. 
• If he is never sold to Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife never falsely accuses him of rape. 
• If Potiphar’s wife never falsely accuses him of rape, then he is never put in prison. 
• If he is never put in prison, he never meets the baker and butler of Pharaoh. 
• If he never meets the baker and butler of Pharaoh, he never interprets their dreams. 
• If he never interprets their dreams, he never gets to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. 
• If he never gets to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, he never is made prime minister. 
• If he is never made prime minister, he never wisely administrates for the severe famine coming upon the region. 
• If he never wisely administrates for the severe famine coming upon the region, then his family back in Canaan perishes from the famine. 
• If his family back in Canaan perishes from the famine, then the Messiah can’t come forth from a dead family. If the Messiah can’t come forth, then Jesus never came. 
• If Jesus never came, then you are dead in your sins and without hope in this world. We are grateful for God’s great and wise plan.

Oh yes, we are grateful! May my life today reflect that gratefulness...may  my life be a continuous looking forward to the completion of God's eternal, loving, perfect plan.