164 | What to Do When People You Trusted Betray You: God's Providence and Preservation (Genesis Bible Study 4)

Find the full episode here: LivingOnPurposeInChrist.com/blog and the companion printable resource here): PaulaBehrens.com/store

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, I did everything right and it still fell apart? If you’ve been betrayed by someone you trusted, stuck in a season of waiting, or quietly wondering whether God still sees you, Joseph’s story in Genesis hits close to home and it brings real hope without pretending the pain is small.

We wrap up our Genesis series by tracing Joseph’s path from the pit to slavery, from false accusation to prison, and finally to a sudden, shocking turnaround in Pharaoh’s court. Along the way, we talk about what it means when “the Lord was with Joseph” even when nothing looks fair, and why the long middle stretch matters. If you’re trying to hear God’s voice, make wise choices, and find peace in a confusing season, Joseph gives language for the waiting room between promise and fulfillment.

We also slow down in Genesis 50:20, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,” and dig into the meaning behind the word “meant” as something planned and woven with intention. That thread ties Joseph back to Abraham and the covenant story of God’s providence and the preservation of His people. If you’re carrying a family wound, a delayed promise, or a setback that feels personal, this conversation will help you reframe your story with faith, clarity, and courage.

If you want to go deeper, grab the printable companion Bible study for Genesis (Part 4) at PaulaBehrens.com/store. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

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Transcript

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When Life Falls Apart

Paula Behrens 0:00

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, God, how did I end up here? This isn't the story I thought I was living. Maybe you did everything right and it still fell apart. Maybe someone you trusted turned on you. Maybe you've been waiting so long for a promise to come that you've quietly stopped believing it will. If any of that sounds familiar, you are exactly who this episode is for. Welcome back to Living on Purpose in Christ. Today we're wrapping up our four-part journey through the book of Genesis with the story that I honestly think might be the most personal one in the whole book, the story of Joseph. And I want you to stick with me all the way to the end of this episode because I'm going to tell you about a printable companion Bible study that takes everything we talk about today and helps you go so much deeper, including a step-by-step leader's guide if you want to walk through this with a small group, a Sunday school class, or even just your own family around the kitchen table.

Spiritual Disciplines And Essential Oils

Paula Behrens 1:01

In my personal faith walk, I've wrestled with the challenge of carving out consistent time for God. Some days, the line blurred between hearing his voice and my own thoughts echoing back at me. But through life's ups and downs, I've discovered an amazing truth. Spiritual disciplines paired with the God-given gift of natural aromas or what we call essential oils today and create a profound space for clarity and connection. They help us slow down and tune in to God's quiet whispers. Let's talk about what this podcast has to offer. Each week, we delve into meaningful scripture, highlighting memory verses enriched with Greek word studies. If your spirit needs refreshing, you can start with daily devotionals that accompany your morning prayer, and you'll find that many of our episodes are infused with essential oil tips to enhance your focus so you can hear God's voice more clearly as you seek to clarify your unique calling.

Coaching And Review Request

Paula Behrens 2:11

Hey friend, I know what it feels like to be unsure about what to do, even when you're truly trying to follow God. You're praying, listening, and thinking through choices in your personal life, your family, your work, or your ministry, but peace still feels hard to find. You may wonder if you're really hearing God's voice or if your decisions line up with his plan. Maybe you feel overwhelmed because the season hasn't brought the peace or confidence you hoped for. I want you to know, God is not asking you to have it all figured out first. He's simply asking you to trust him. That's what our coaching session is about. No pressure, no striving, just finding clarity, discernment, and confidence through the Holy Spirit. Let me walk with you in an aroma freedom coaching session to help you release what may be making wise transitions feel hard. Say yes to peace and say yes to God's presence. Book your aroma freedom coaching session now at PaulaBehrens.com /coaching. That's Paula Behrens B E H R E N S .com /coaching (no spaces). Before we dive in, I have a quick favor to ask. If this podcast has been a blessing to you or helped you grow in your walk with Christ, would you take a moment to leave a review? Thank you so much. I truly appreciate your support. All right, it's time to get started. Grab your Bible, dust off that journal, and pour yourself something warm to drink and let's get into it.

Genesis Zooms In On Joseph

Paula Behrens 3:34

If you've been with us for the whole series, you know the pattern by now. Genesis starts big. Creation, the whole human race, the fall. Then in part two, it narrows down to one man, Abraham, and God's covenant with him. In part three, the covenant gets passed down through Isaac and then through Jacob, the man who wrestled with God and walked away with a new name, Israel. Now, in this final chunk of Genesis, chapters 37 through 50, the story narrows one more time. It zooms in on one of Jacob's twelve sons. His name is Joseph, and his story is where the whole book of Genesis lands before it hands the baton over to Exodus.

Betrayal And The Pit

Paula Behrens 4:19

Joseph is a teenager when we meet him in chapter 37, and honestly, he's a little bit of a know-it-all. He's his father's favorite. He wears that famous coat and he dreams dreams, actual dreams from God, that suggest one day his brothers will bow down to him. And instead of maybe keeping that to himself, he tells his brothers all about it. You can imagine how that goes over. His brothers already resent him, and now they're furious. So one day, out in the fields, far from home, they grab him and they throw him into a pit, and they sell him to traders headed for Egypt. Seventeen years old, ripped away from his family, sold like property, and hauled off to a foreign country where he doesn't know a soul. I want you to sit with that for a second, because I think we rush past it too quickly when we know how the story ends. Joseph didn't know how it ended. All he knew was that the people who should have loved him had betrayed him, and he was now a slave in Egypt, with absolutely no way home. If you've ever been betrayed by family, if you've ever had people who were supposed to protect you turn against you instead, you already understand Joseph's chapter 37 better than any commentary could explain it.

Faithfulness In Potiphar’s House

Paula Behrens 5:44

Here's where the story gets remarkable though. And it's something I want you to really hear today. Joseph doesn't fall apart, he ends up working in the house of an Egyptian official named Potiphar. And scripture tells us, t he Lord was with Joseph, and he prospered. He rises to a position of real responsibility. And then just when it looks like things might be turning around, Potiphar's wife falsely accuses him, and Joseph lands in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Let that sink in. This man does the right thing. He refuses to sin against God and against his employer, and his reward is prison. If that doesn't sound like real life, I don't know what does. Sometimes doing the right thing doesn't get you promoted. Sometimes it brings just the opposite. And yet, even in prison, we read the same phrase again. The Lord was with Joseph. He interprets dreams for two of Potiphar's officials, one of whom is later restored to his position and promises to remember Joseph. And then he forgets. For two more years, Joseph sits in prison, forgotten by the very person who should have spoken up for him. I think this middle section of Joseph's story is honestly the part most of us live in the longest, not the pit, and not yet the palace, but the waiting room in between, where you're being faithful, and nothing seems to be changing, and the people who could help you have moved on with their lives. If that's you right now, I want you to know that the same God who was with Joseph in that prison cell is with you in whatever waiting room you're sitting in today.

Pharaoh’s Dreams Change Everything

Paula Behrens 7:37

Then all at once everything shifts. Pharaoh has troubling dreams that none of his wise men can explain. And suddenly the cupbearer remembers Joseph. Joseph is pulled from prison, and within the same day he stands before the most powerful man in Egypt. He interprets Pharaoh's dreams as a warning of seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of severe famine, and he lays out a wise plan to prepare. Pharaoh is so impressed that he puts Joseph in charge of the entire country, second only to himself. Thirteen years after being thrown into a pit by his own brothers, Joseph is now the second most powerful man in the ancient world.

Reunion And Radical Forgiveness

Paula Behrens 8:23

And then the famine comes, just as Joseph said it would, and it reaches all the way back to Canaan, where his father and brothers are living. Jacob sends his sons down to Egypt to buy grain, and there they are, standing in front of the brother they sold into slavery, and they don't even recognize him. Joseph recognizes them immediately, though. And what he does next is, to me, one of the most beautiful moments in all of Scripture. After testing them and recognizing that they have grown and changed, Joseph finally reveals himself. He weeps so loudly that the Egyptians hear him through the walls, and instead of revenge, which he absolutely could have taken, he says something that has become one of the most quoted verses in the entire Old Testament. Here in Genesis chapter 50, verse 20, Joseph looks at his brothers who betrayed him and says, You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about the present result, to preserve many people alive.

The Hebrew Word Translated "Meant" Is Cḥāšaḇ (חָשַׁב)

Paula Behrens 9:30

I want to slow down on one word in that verse because it carries the whole weight of Joseph's story, and honestly, of your story too. The Hebrew word translated, meant, is c ḥāšaḇ (חָשַׁב), and it's a rich active word. It doesn't just mean to think a passing thought, it means to plan, to weave, to design, to calculate with intention, almost the way a craftsman plans out a piece of fabric before he ever picks up the thread. Joseph is saying his brothers wove a plan against him with real intention to harm him, but God wove his own plan, a better plan, over and around theirs. It's the same word used elsewhere in scripture for skilled craftsmen designing intricate work for the tabernacle, which I love, because it means God wasn't reacting to Joseph's suffering after the fact, he was crafting something purposeful through it the whole time. When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek, what we call the Septuagint, the version many Jews and early Christians actually read and quoted, that word cḥāšaḇ (חָשַׁב) in Genesis 50:20 becomes the Greek word logizomai (λογίζομαι). And here's where it gets really beautiful. The same Greek word, logizomai (λογίζομαι), shows up again in Genesis 15: 6, describing how Abraham believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness. The Apostle Paul picks up that exact word centuries later in Romans chapter 4 to explain how faith is reckoned or credited to us for righteousness through Christ. So the same word connects Abraham's faith being counted as righteousness all the way to Joseph's suffering being counted or reckoned for good. It's a small thread, but it ties the entire Genesis series together in one tapestry, and it whispers something true over your life too. Whatever has been meant against you, God is able to weave it into something meant for good.

Providence Preserves God’s People

Paula Behrens 11:39

Because of Joseph's forgiveness, his whole family moves down to Egypt and the covenant family that God has been protecting since Abraham is preserved through a famine that could have wiped them out completely. This is why part four of our Genesis series is titled God's Providence and the Preservation of His People. Every part of this series has been building toward this truth. God made a promise to Abraham back in chapter 12, and generation after generation, in spite of human failure, jealousy, deception, and even outright betrayal, God kept that promise alive. Genesis doesn't end with humanity finally getting it together, though. It ends with God's faithfulness carrying his people through in spite of themselves. So here's what I want to leave with you today.

Printable Study And Closing Charge

Paula Behrens 12:31

Whatever pit you've been thrown into, whatever prison you feel forgotten in, whatever family wound you've been carrying, the story of Joseph is proof that God is never absent from your suffering and he's never finished writing your story. What was meant for evil, God can mean for good. Now, like I promised at the beginning, if today's episode stirred something in you, I would love for you to go deeper. I've created a full printable Bible study to go along with this episode, and it goes so much further than we could have time for today. It includes a deeper dive into the key passages, more of the theological truths tucked into Joseph's story, what it reveals about the character of God, a deeper word study, honest reflection questions, journaling prompts, and if you lead a small group, a Bible study, or even want to walk through this with your family, there's a complete step-by-step leader's guide included to make that easy for you. You can find it along with all four studies in this Genesis series at PaulaBehrens.com /store in the "Printable Resources" section, that's Paula Behrens B E H R E N S .com /store and look for Genesis (Part 4) in the "Printable Resources" section. Go grab it now, sit with it this week, and let God keep writing your story of purpose too.

Closing Thoughts and Next Steps

Paula Behrens 13:58

Thank you for tuning in today. And remember, just like setting biblical boundaries, it's okay to say no to things that don't serve you well, like that third piece of cake at the church potluck. If you were blessed by this episode, be sure to share it with a friend and leave a review so that we can reach even more listeners like you. Check the show notes for all the links. Join us next week as we continue to discover how to live on purpose in Christ. Until then, keep leaning into Him and walking in His wisdom. See you next time.