Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” This, of course upset the brothers
because they believed Joseph was long since dead. We are told “they were terrified at his presence”. Normally it would be cause for rejoicing
but…in this case all the brothers knew the chickens were coming home to roost.
In fact Joseph said “I am
your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!”Joseph was a powerful man with authority
over life and death residing in his very whim.
Joseph, however, was focused on the bigger picture. He knew
that God had allowed all those events to occur so he would be in a position to
save Israel from the famine. He said “God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on
earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance”. Not one ounce of revenge is evident in
Joseph’s spirit.
We all struggle with justice issues. We see it most markedly
in issues of race in America. Most of the ill-tempered conversation and
imprudent actions between races is a function of anger and revenge…all in the
name of justice. We do it in our families as well. Siblings don’t speak to each
other because of something that happened years ago. We do it in our churches too.
We intentionally sit on the other side of the sanctuary in order to avoid
certain folks.
None of this honors God. It saps the energy and focus of the
Body of Christ…obstructing the mission. It only serves to show that we don’t get it.
We don’t understand God and we don’t have a clue about what he’s doing in our
lives.
If we call ourselves “Christians” this needs to change…
Live boldly out there today…
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