When it comes to working through family hurt, we can learn a lot through Joseph’s story. His brothers had a deep hate for him because they could see how much their father favoured him. To get revenge, his brothers originally planned to murder him, but instead decided to sell him as a slave and fake his death.
Like Joseph, injuries in one’s own family go very deep. Some even talk about it years later, as if it had been yesterday. Joseph never accepted the injustice of his brothers but he learned to forgive them. When he saw them years later, he did not immediately forgive them. However, since he understood that it is only God who can judge and this his plans are greater than any man’s mistakes, he told them “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.”
Through his brothers horrible plan, God used Joseph to save the people of Egypt and neighboring lands from a horrible famine. What man intended for evil, God used for good. As a reminder, Joseph called his first-born son Manasseh “the one who makes you forget”! With God’s help, you can learn to let go of the heavy, hard, and horrible. He will show you how to rejoice again and heal your heart and soul.
This week I challenge you to boldly discuss your traumas with God and let him show you how to forgive your perpetrators. God will take care of your heart, and will use your life’s traumas for good, if you let him. It may not be an easy or fast process, but it will be a freeing one.
Cleaning up the past is liberating!
“God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.”
said Joseph as he named his firstborn son Manasseh in Genesis 41:51
Where am I holding onto the past?
Side note: If you are struggling to make peace with the past, there are fantastic christian counsellors out there who will walk with you through your pain. There is nothing wrong with asking for help through any of life’s challenges. I encourage you to seek out God and their help, to make amends with your past.
Weekly text: Genesis 50:15-21
