Yesterday we read about Joseph becoming very “Egyptian”. Egyptians did not care for or trust Hebrews, so Pharaoh needed Joseph to appear Egyptian if he was going to be in charge of all of Egypt. Joseph was given an Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah. He received a wife who was the daughter of a prominent Egyptian man, and they were blessed with two sons. Even though everything on the outside seemed Egyptian, we know that Joseph held on to his Hebrew roots because he gave his sons Hebrew names.
So here he was at the top … he had a new life, a new name, a new wife, children, wealth, power … basically he could have anything he wanted. And then the unexpected happened – ten Hebrew men showed up and requested food.
A flood of emotions had to hit Joseph: disbelief, shock, fear, distrust, anger, revenge, concern. He was in a position to reject them and let them die or throw them in prison. He knew that if they discovered who he was and others discovered that he was a Hebrew, he ran the risk of losing his position and power.
Joseph’s responses show many of these emotions. He was in disbelief and shocked when they showed up and bowed to him and the dream came true. He did not reveal his true identity to them out of fear and distrust. He accused them of being spies and threatened them, but then questioned them about his father and younger brother. But, finally, after being flooded with all of these emotions, he acted with compassion.
When Joseph heard Reuben talking to the other brothers about trying to stop their plot it brought him to tears. Why? Joseph had everything that a person could want, but deep in his heart he had buried the pain of betrayal. He had buried the sorrow of missing his family and his home. He had pains deep within his soul. He kept them covered up in the new reality of his world, but when he was confronted with the truth, they resurfaced.
think about it...
Where are you today?
Do you have hurts that are buried deep in your heart? Have you kept them covered up? Share them with God.
Do you have a flood of emotions going through your heart? Which will you act on – those that honor God or those that can destroy?
Does revenge taste good? Is there such a thing as sweet revenge?
What do you think kept Joseph from killing his brothers?
What kind of love do you think Joseph is thinking about? "I love you IF" love, "I love you BECAUSE" love, or "I love you IN SPITE OF" love?
Which kind of love would your heart be wrestling with?
Have you ever stopped and thought of which kind of love God has for you? Which kind of love He has HELD you with?
Go turn the music off by pressing the pause button on the "playlist" to the right... so you can watch this awesome video (different than the video on the 15th):
No comments:
Post a Comment