God Sent Me to Preserve You

Our Love for God

Loving God by Trusting Christ

Submit to God in Christ

Genesis 45:1-8 The Message

45 1-2 Joseph couldn’t hold himself in any longer, keeping up a front before all his attendants. He cried out, “Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!” So there was no one with Joseph when he identified himself to his brothers. But his sobbing was so violent that the Egyptians couldn’t help but hear him. The news was soon reported to Pharaoh’s palace.
3 Joseph spoke to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” But his brothers couldn’t say a word. They were speechless—they couldn’t believe what they were hearing and seeing.
4-8 “Come closer to me,” Joseph said to his brothers. They came closer. “I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel bad, don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.

For Reflection

We often speak of Joseph's act of forgiveness as the ultimate pattern for reconciliation.  We talk of his humility and his acceptance of his brothers.

But, today, I am struck by the meaning of Joseph's suffering. In his trials, By living through the hardship of betrayal by his siblings, and losing his family, Joseph has come to the knowledge of God's will.  His suffering has brought about the deliverance of his people. Without the wicked manipulations of his brothers, he would not have risen to power and not been a position to help.  He dismisses those who represent the violence of domination and calls his brothers unto him. Such calling is a profound grace, an act of salvation, not by human mercy, but by the action of a loving, compassionate God.

Pray

Pray so that you will see into the suffering trials of everyday living, to find the will of God that drives us toward Grace.

Forward to a friend