Big Idea: Even when bad things happen to us, God has not forgotten us. He is working for our good, always, no matter what.

Bible Passage: Genesis 37-41:1-31

This week we talked about the story of Joseph, one of Jacob's youngest sons. Jacob had 12 sons, and Joseph was his favourite. You may have even heard about the multi-coloured coat Jacob gave to Joseph. Joseph was given dreams from God at a young age – at 17! Joseph's brothers were not impressed by these dreams, nor did they like him being their father's favourite child – so they made plans to get rid of him. We read in this story that Joseph was sold as a slave by his brothers, imprisoned by his new master, and then forgotten about. It wasn't until Pharaoh needed his dreams interpreted that anyone thought of Joseph and his special gift. But eventually, when Joseph was 30,  he was not only freed from prison, but elevated to a position of power by Pharaoh, and put in charge of the lands. What a long time to wait! And what an amazing thing that God did for Joseph!

We talked about how sometimes we feel forgotten about too. Especially when bad things happen to us. How could God care about us if all these bad things keep happening? We talked about how each moment, or day in our lives is like a puzzle piece, and only God sees the whole puzzle together as a picture. We see the individual pieces and wonder how they make sense. God knew he would use Joseph in Egypt far before his brothers set about to sell him into slavery. God gave him the gift of special dreams far before he would need them to gain favour with Pharaoh. God sees the whole picture, and uses all the pieces to bring about our good for His glory. We can trust God, that even in the scary, sad or hard times, God has not abandoned us, but is at work, putting the whole story together, making it beautiful. And even more than this – that He is with us the whole time as He promises. "Never will I leave you, Never will I forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

Family Activity

Do a puzzle together as a family. Hold up one piece of the puzzle and ask your kids, "Can you tell what the whole picture is just from looking at this piece?" Explain to children that each day, moment or season for us is like a puzzle piece. We can't see the whole picture of our lives and how it will work out. Only God can see that. But we can trust Him, that He is making our story beautiful, for our good, and His glory – just like He did with Joseph. We can trust Him in the hard times, because we know that even if they don't make sense to us, God knows what is going on, and more than that, He cares, and He promises to be with us through it all. He will never leave us. When you finish the puzzle, pray to God and thank Him for His Holy Spirit who gives us peace, joy and strength to trust Him in the scary, sad and hard times.