For Your Good

By Bishop George Matthews

Bishop George Matthews shares his journey of rejection and misuse within the church by mirroring the story of Joseph in scripture. 

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it f

• Language: English
• Publisher: November Media Publishing
• Release date: Jan 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781088011669

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The Joseph Complex

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

~Genesis 50:20

God places a premium on unity and harmony in the church. In a strong church, everyone works for harmony. But the modern-day church is facing a dilemma: unity and harmony are hard commodities to come by. If you look closely, the church is often the breeding ground for human messes. The toxic culture bred in the church makes harmonious life hard for God’s people to attain. In my journey of pastoral leadership, personal growth, and faith, I’ve been challenged with the task of remaining Christ-like even when I have every reason to behave out of a place of bitterness. Although I have been on the mountaintop and in the valley because of my role as a servant, one thing has remained the same: every experience was for my good. God has led me on a path of redemption and forgiveness that has made sense of every experience of my past.

Not enough Christians apply the words of Joseph in Genesis 50:20 to the wounds they have received at the hands of other Christians. Instead, we tote around Romans 8:28, saying that all things work together. But Joseph did not just put a bow on the jealousy, betrayal, and rejection he experienced. He declared that God would turn the ill will of humanity into a blessing for a nation. Joseph’s tale is a tapestry of forgiveness for us to apply over our hurts and disappointments. A testimony is not supposed to be a poster for good times. If you really want to be enticing or have truly experienced God’s mercy, your testimony is a souvenir of grace. I have my own Joseph experience. It is a story of risking hurt from man to be faithful to God. But what matters is that you, too, have a Joseph testimony.

This book is for those of you in a place where your enemy may be your sister or brother in Christ. I want to honor you for being brave enough to cultivate healing for all you have been through. However, this book is not a guide or a how-to. It is a letter to tell you that people like you can encounter resurrection, redemption, and victory through forgiveness. People who are trying to get to a place of forgiveness get there by God’s grace. I am one of those people, and every day brings me a little closer to recovery from the hurt I experienced within the faith community I have served in every way. As a chaplain, I am an advocate for men reintegrating into society after incarceration. I am the pastor of Genesis Worship Center, which is at the helm of building a housing facility for the demographic God has given me a burden for. I am a father of two awesome men. Under all of this, I am on the other side of plans meant for harm but that God used for good.

I wanted to write this book to encourage us to glory in tribulations. This is a call to action for you to rejoice. We can rejoice in hardship when folks talk about us like we’re dogs, when we’re threatened with layoff notices, and even when we don’t know how we’re going to pay bills. At times, I would be going through so many things that I would break out in praise to God when I got to church. No matter what I was facing, He was still God. In this book, I will tell you my story of dancing in tribulation.

Tribulations do something in you. When life brings you one storm after another, you have got to learn to dance. Too often, we let fear of hardship keep us from experiencing faith. You can’t say, I have faith, but struggle when the time comes for you to put that faith to the test. If you don’t want to go through anything, faith is not really a trait you want. Faith doesn’t work alone. Faith works through tribulation. When you trust God, trouble brings the best out of you. Trouble settles you down, gives you a testimony, and helps you mature. Paul lets us know that tribulation also brings experience.

I have lost everything. A man I deemed my spiritual father ousted me from leadership at my home church and fired me from my position as chaplain without notice. But that rain gave the good ground of God’s grace in my life everything I needed to spring forth. Victory has been sweet, not because I earned it but because I can see God’s purpose in all of the pain that made me wonder why. Forgiveness has answered so many of my questions. Maybe you are wondering why. Why did the betrayal happen? Why didn’t anyone stick up for you? Learn how to dance in advance of what God is getting ready to do. You may be waiting for your complete healing, but you better start practicing your dance moves now so, when your healing comes, you will know how to shout. I won’t act like a book can undo the hurt you felt, but I know for sure that this book will show you that you are not alone.

There is a whole army of Christ representatives choosing to dance as they recover from the blows they have been dealt. I sincerely believe you ought to be one of us, dancing while God is fixing the problem. You may be broken today, but you can take your broken pieces to the Lord, who is your manufacturer and can repair you. He can repair the damage. He can repair the hurt. He can heal the disappointment. He can re-establish the broken relationship. He can heal your body! He can restore your children. But you must rejoice while you are hoping and waiting on God. You need to start saying, It’s going to be alright.