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I assume we are familiar with the story of Joseph. He was a kid that loved the Lord, and the Lord had a good plan for his future. However, his brothers certainly did not view him as a treasure and began to resent him greatly. Joseph’s very own brothers plotted to murder him! In the end, their greed saved Joseph’s life because they decided to sell him as a slave to foreigners. I can’t even imagine the hurt that Joseph felt having been betrayed by his own family and now facing a life of slavery.
Joseph ended up being a slave to a very high up guy in the kingdom. He did well for a while, but then when he rejected the advances of his boss’s wife, she lied about him and had him thrown in prison. I’m sure in prison he had plenty of time to dwell on the fact that his present circumstances really all stemmed from his brothers selling him as a slave in the first place. He was a slave for years and years, and he was a prisoner for years and years. I could imagine you could really grow to hate someone in that time for what they did to you.
Eventually, Joseph was able to interpret a dream for the Pharaoh about an ensuing famine and the Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the entire kingdom, second only to himself. After many years in his success, his brothers traveled to buy food from the Egyptians. They had no idea this important man in charge of the Egyptians was their brother. After Joseph went through shock, tears, and overwhelming emotions, he eventually revealed to his brothers who he was.
His brothers were very scared of how Joseph would repay them for all the evil they had done to him. They were sure not only would he want to pay them back, but he had the means to do it in a very torturous way! They begged for his forgiveness. They came to him, threw themselves at his feet, and said, “We are your slaves”.
Joseph had every right to be angry with them, to begrudge them, and to want to get even with the hurt and pain they had caused him. That’s why Joseph’s reply to them has had me stunned since I read it.
Genesis 50:19-21
But Joseph said to 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.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
“Am I in the place of God?” When someone hurts us or betrays us, our flesh says to fight back, to pay back, and to get them back. But, that’s not our job. Romans 12:19 says: Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord. Repayment does not belong to us. Wrath does not belong to us. It belongs to the Lord. Joseph fully understood this when he replied asking if he was in the place of God. When we try to repay, we are stepping into God’s place and that is a dangerous place to step into.
”You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done..” God does not cause others to harm us, but yes sometimes He allows it. He allowed Joseph’s brother’s to sell him as a slave while preventing his murder. He allowed Joseph’s imprisonment while preventing his death. Joseph amazingly understood that God allowed the temporary pain in his life because He could look to the future and see the greater purpose of Joseph’s life and all the lives Joseph would affect.
He reassured them and spoke kindly to them. How could Joseph do this to the very people who had harmed him so badly? He could do this because He didn’t look at things from his human perspective, but from God’s. He trusted God’s will for His life and truly believed that God’s purpose was far more important that any pain he had to endure. He was not God to question God or stand in the place of God. He just trusted God.
Joseph’s understanding of this greatly resembles Jesus’s. In Matthew, Peter told Jesus that He shouldn’t have to suffer and die for us, but Jesus responded, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” It is a dangerous trap to see things from our human hurts instead of the eternal view of our God.
Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts..”
Often we just won’t let it go because we so badly want it to be made right. Sometimes, the only way it will ever be made right is by what is accomplished through my life in spite of it.
Father God, I am not in Your place and please help me to never act like I am. Hurts have come to me in my life, but You are the great Judge and vengeance belongs to You. I believe Your purpose is greater than my pain. I believe You have an amazing plan for my future and my hurts will one day be a distant memory because of all the goodness You plan to bestow on my life. I don’t have to get stuck in pain like the rest of the world does. I have Your power and love working in my life and heart, and I choose to look for all that You want to accomplish through me. Your ways are so much greater than mine, and so are Your thoughts. I choose to walk in Your ways and think on Your thoughts instead of my unstable reasoning. Thank You for helping me stand tall like Joseph did as I understand that I’m not in Your place and I trust in Your purpose for my life.