Reflect
Anger is never an endearing characteristic. Vulnerability is. Joseph could do wrath, but he chose openness coming from forgiveness.
This Joseph who had been forgotten, abused, betrayed, and left for dead is able to look at those that meant him harm and say, “…do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here’. Why not?! “for God sent me”(v5); “God sent me”(v7); “it was not you who sent me, but God”(v8).
Joseph saw God at work on the sunny days as well as on those days that he was buried so deep in a dreadful dungeon that he couldn’t tell what the weather was doing.
Joseph’s ability to be vulnerable and forgiving creates a new story for his family. They would not be controlled by the past.
Note that no one else could have said to Joseph, “God has brought you here”. Joseph needed to see that himself to truly accept that good would come from evil. We cannot tell someone who is suffering that God will bring good out of this evil, that God will bless through their suffering, or that out of their endurance God will bring grace to others.
Like all forms of discipleship, suffering and walking with the suffering requires time, grace, and the gentle guidance of God’s Spirit.
Who will you go and sit with today to listen to their pain-filled story? Go with ears of grace.
Pastor Dan
Pray
- Pray for our Prime Minister and Premier, Mayor Sohi, your MP, your MLA, and any other government officials God brings to your mind.
- Pray for all our small group leaders.
- Pray for our Missions Ministry Assistant, Oleksandr Lushchyk.