As we just learned, Joseph was the firstborn son of beautiful-eyed Rachel—so his father Isaac favored him. Isaac’s favorite son quickly became the least favorite brother. His eleven brothers hated him. And after Joseph told them his dreams about them bowing down before him, they really hated him. What the brothers did next was terrible. One day they grabbed him, ripped his fancy robe, threw him into a pit, and sold him into slavery. Then they lied and told their dad a wild beast tore him apart! Terrible, terrible, terrible.

But God had a good plan for this messy story. But before we see the good, the mess gets worse. Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold as a slave to an important Egyptian leader, Potiphar. Potiphar was so impressed by his new slave that he put Joseph in charge of everything. One day Potiphar’s wife did a terrible thing. She tried to kiss Joseph. Joseph refused and ran away. So she decided to lie and say that Joseph had come to kiss her. Potiphar was furious and threw Joseph into prison.

But God was with Joseph. God had given Joseph a special gift—the ability to interpret dreams. This gift came in handy. In prison he was able to tell two of the prisoners what their dreams meant. One of the prisoners eventually told Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). So when Pharaoh had a tricky dream, he asked Joseph to tell him what it meant. With God’s help Joseph was able to correctly interpret it. Pharaoh was so impressed by Joseph’s wisdom that he made him a big shot ruler over all of Egypt. How good is that? But it’s still a messy story. What might God be up to?

Years later, Joseph’s brothers and their families were desperate for food because there was a famine. God had helped Joseph store up food, so Egypt was prepared. Guess what Joseph’s brothers did? They travelled to Egypt to buy food so they wouldn’t starve. Next thing you know, Joseph had invited his brothers into his house and they were bowing down before him—just like in his dream. But the brothers didn’t understand who he was until Joseph said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt” (Gen. 45:4). Joseph could have thrown them in prison for what they had done to him. It was so terrible! But instead, he forgave them, gave them food, and let them share in his blessings. How beautiful! Because Joseph believed that God works all things according to his perfect plan, he said to them, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive” (50:20). If not for this messy situation, God’s people would have died from the famine. If not for this messy situation, Abraham’s family tree would have been cut off. But Joseph was right: God intended the mess for good.