Daily Scripture: Genesis 50:15 Realizing that their father was dead, Yosef’s brothers said, “Yosef may hate us now and pay us back in full for all the suffering we caused him.” 16 So they sent a message to Yosef which said, “Your father gave this order before he died: 17 ‘Say to Yosef, “I beg you now, please forgive your brothers’ crime and wickedness in doing you harm.”’ So now, we beg of you, forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Yosef wept when they spoke to him; 18 and his brothers too came, prostrated themselves before him and said, “Here, we are your slaves.” 19 But Yosef said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20 You meant to do me harm, but God meant it for good — so that it would come about as it is today, with many people’s lives being saved. (vii) 21 So don’t be afraid — I will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he comforted them, speaking kindly to them.
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Reflection Questions:
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When their father Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers were afraid. It had taken Joseph time to work through his feelings before he forgave his brothers. In the brothers, we see that it can take time to accept and trust forgiveness for deep hurts, too. Their frightened, transparent effort to put words in their dead father’s mouth moved Joseph to tears.
- Now imagine yourself in Joseph’s brothers’ shoes. The brash kid you sold to slave traders is now the second most powerful man in a foreign land where rulers hold absolute power. He SAID he forgave you, but the family patriarch, the one person whose moral authority might have held Joseph back, just died. Would you be at all afraid of what might happen? Why or why not?
- In verse 20, Joseph said, “You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it.” He was clear that selling their brother was “something bad,” not God’s design. And yet God used it to produce a life-saving result for many people. How does it affect your ability to trust God to know that God never wants to see evil happen, but when it happens, God immediately goes to work to force it to serve some good purpose?
Lord God, please strengthen me to persevere in the process of forgiveness —for the sake of my own healing, and perhaps that of others. Amen.
---------------------Insights from Ginny Howell
Ginny Howell is the Connections Mobilization Program Director at Resurrection.
“You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it…”
It is easy to find yourself at a place in life where you constantly anticipate the negative. A broken relationship, family issues, unexpected illness, financial stress, job changes…one area of life gets tough, then even things that you would normally perceive as small challenges can quickly grow into barriers to your happiness or success. You know–some of the “downs” that we preached about with Dr. Forbes last weekend in service.
We often look to place blame when we are in those “downs.” Many times, like Joseph, we can attribute hurts in our lives to the people that should love us the most, our family. People we should never have to worry about hurting us. The GPS today discusses the time that it takes for Joseph and his brothers to work through their feelings–for Joseph to forgive, and for his brothers to trust and accept that they were forgiven. Personally, the time that I need to forgive and move on from most hurts is likely to be on the shorter end of the forgiveness spectrum, but I live with family members who (some of them) tend to fall at the opposite end. Because I am (generally) quick to forgive, I really love the part of this scripture listed above, “You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it…”. I love it because it articulates that what God is up to is where we should place our attention. What is planned is not nearly as important as what has been produced. God works to produce the positive in our lives regardless of negative intent that others might have for us. I believe that the act of forgiveness is one way to participate in moving towards the good that God is creating in our lives.
Are you holding on to a hurt that you can let go of? Where can you see that God has produced something good from something bad? Focus on the positive, even in the midst of challenges knowing that God is working for good in your life today and every day.
“You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it…”
It is easy to find yourself at a place in life where you constantly anticipate the negative. A broken relationship, family issues, unexpected illness, financial stress, job changes…one area of life gets tough, then even things that you would normally perceive as small challenges can quickly grow into barriers to your happiness or success. You know–some of the “downs” that we preached about with Dr. Forbes last weekend in service.
We often look to place blame when we are in those “downs.” Many times, like Joseph, we can attribute hurts in our lives to the people that should love us the most, our family. People we should never have to worry about hurting us. The GPS today discusses the time that it takes for Joseph and his brothers to work through their feelings–for Joseph to forgive, and for his brothers to trust and accept that they were forgiven. Personally, the time that I need to forgive and move on from most hurts is likely to be on the shorter end of the forgiveness spectrum, but I live with family members who (some of them) tend to fall at the opposite end. Because I am (generally) quick to forgive, I really love the part of this scripture listed above, “You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it…”. I love it because it articulates that what God is up to is where we should place our attention. What is planned is not nearly as important as what has been produced. God works to produce the positive in our lives regardless of negative intent that others might have for us. I believe that the act of forgiveness is one way to participate in moving towards the good that God is creating in our lives.
Are you holding on to a hurt that you can let go of? Where can you see that God has produced something good from something bad? Focus on the positive, even in the midst of challenges knowing that God is working for good in your life today and every day.
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