What does Genesis 45:8 mean?

This verse begins with one of the most profound statements in all of Scripture. Joseph's brothers literally sold him to slave traders when he was just 17 years old (Genesis 37:24–28). And yet, Joseph recognizes an even higher plan and purpose. Their actions were sin, but they were allowed because God saw the greater good. In the sense that He arranged Joseph's rise to power (Genesis 41:44) and his ability to save Israel (Genesis 45:10–11), Joseph can say it was not his brothers, but God who sent him into Egypt. God was responsible for what happened to him, and it was for good (Romans 8:28).

Joseph's evidence for this is the miraculous nature of his rise to power. He, a Hebrew slave, had become a kind of father to the Pharaoh of Egypt; Pharaoh fully submitted himself to all of Joseph's instructions about how best to preserve life in the kingdom (Genesis 41:40). Joseph had even become the lord of Pharaoh's household and the ruler over all of Egypt. This simply could not have happened if God had not intended and engineered it.

The perspective given here makes sense of some hardships. But it does leave other questions. Joseph's trials don't mean that every calamity is an explicit action by God. Nor does it mean that all suffering is meant to be reversed during our earthly lives. Still, Joseph's story proves God can use the evil intentions of men to accomplish great good. It empowers victims of evil to see past the intentions of those who have wronged them. Rather than feel they are at the mercy of men, those who suffer can be encouraged, knowing God can even work through the difficult circumstances of their lives.