Through The Bible in a Year - February 23, 2026

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” – Genesis 50:20

We all want 20-20 vision. But what we see in Genesis 50:20 is “50-20 vision”—the ability to see that God means for good, what others intend for evil.

This isn’t rose-colored glasses. Joseph doesn’t say that his brothers’ betrayal didn’t really hurt. He calls the wrong what it is: “You did me evil.” And yet at the same time his heart of faith affirmed: “But I believe God has been working in all this.”

This is profound faith. Faith to see beyond the immediate circumstances. Beyond the betrayal. Beyond the pain. To see, with the eyes of faith, the blessings God is still providing.

The good God was doing was enabling Joseph to help the covenant people through famine. By maintaining the covenant people, God also maintained the nation from which Jesus would come. Ultimately, through Joseph, many people were saved—including everyone who believes in Jesus Christ today. We are a direct consequence of the evil Joseph’s brothers did that God meant for good.

Any one of us, standing at the cross, would have also said, “This is wrong. This is evil. This cannot possibly be right.” It wasn’t right. But God meant it for good—to save many.

Can God take what is evil and use it for good? Yes. He bundles up the twisted, ugly vines of our lives—the disappointments, the betrayals, the failures—and turns them into his baskets that hold future blessings.

Respond: What evil has been done to you that you cannot see God using for good? What twisted vine of pain in your life needs to be given to the Artist’s hand? Today, ask God for 50-20 vision—to see by faith that He’s filling the future with good, despite the evil others intend.

Prayer: Lord, give me 50-20 vision. Help me see beyond my circumstances to Your purposes. Take the evil that’s been done to me, the pain I’ve endured, the twistedness of my story—and use it for good. Save through what I’ve suffered. Fill up my basket of ugly vines with the beauty of your purposes. In Jesus’ name, amen.