Day #3: A Picture of Forgiveness

Take time to be in a quiet place. Settle your mind and silently READ His word.

Genesis 50:15-21

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

After reading this silently, read it again aloud. Listen for a sentence that God uses to speak to you by touching using it to touch your heart. Close your eyes, and THINKabout that sentence or word that stood out to you. Focus on it, and write it down, but only that one sentence/word that you fell in love with.

When I did this, there were two sentences that stood out to me. The first was, “Will you do it? Will you forgive the sins of the servants of your father’s God?” which made me think of what I talked about in the last post I did. I found myself struggling and judging others, and God told me that I needed to stop, and that He would help. I need to look past the wicked of others, and start to forgive and think more about their feelings than their actions. God wants us to forgive and to be understanding towards His children of the world. He is our Father, and we should do what He says. Forgiveness is a hard thing to do, but we must try, and with God’s help, everything is possible. No matter how much that person has hurt us in the past, as long as God is with us, no bad will come out of it, all we need to do, is to listen to His will. Our willingness to do what He says and wants.

The second part that stood out to me was, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same pans for my good, as you see all around you right now — life for many people.” This just amazes me. After reading this over and over, it just still hits me hard. God is a gracious giver. I have said it in the past, but this verse right here, is proof.

So many times we are afraid of pretty much everything, but why must we be afraid if we are the children of God? God is our Father, and if we believe and honour Him like we should, He will never let anything bad happen to us. The pain that we feel, will change into love later on. Right once we start thinking that things can’t get worse, God reminds us that it can, by bringing more struggles into our lives. Do you know why He does this? He does this to show us to always be grateful for what He has given to us so far, and that He is always there to give us a helping hand. He loves us, and wants the best for us, but until we start listening to His word, we will never be happy. There are others suffering way more than you, and God wants you to help them, but before you do that, you need to ask God to use you, and to start by fixing you. He is the One that we can ALWAYS count on. No matter what struggles you are going through, He is always there helping you get through. All that you need to do, is believe in Him, that He is capable of everything and that He will handle it all because of the love that He has for you. Start looking up, instead of always thinking of the pain, think about all the amazing times you have had in your life. I know that it’s a lot easier said than done, believe me. I have struggled, and I know. We all know. We are all human and understand the suffering that we can go through, but until you turn everything to God, nothing will heal.
Read the passage again, and think about all the ways that forgiveness is illustrated throughout the text. Think about all the feelings that are in the text, all the emotions. Imagine what it feels like to be the forgiver, then imagine what it feels like to be the forgiven. Forgiving someone who has hurt you, gives them hope to be better, as well as how you feel. It’s a good feeling to be able to forgive, and even though that the person whom you have forgiven may not acknowledge how lucky they are right away, they will eventually realise, and it will give them hope. If you look around you, in the world today, the society does not allow us to have much hope. With all the hate, and wars, we need to show now, more than ever that we Christians are here to change that. We are here for God, and we are willing to do everything in His will to make this planet a better place to live for everyone. Emotions are very hard to deal with, and for those who feel unloved, hurt, frightened, and whatever else, it is our job to be there for them to give them hope through our Lord Jesus. If we don’t start forgiving, this will never happen. Show them love through forgiveness. Don’t be afraid to get hurt, because in the end, God makes everything better than what it was like before the pain. How is the expression of love meaningful to you? I encourage you to note your thoughts.

Read the passage one final time. After you do this, think about how God is speaking to you through it, and what He is telling you to do. Listen to what He wants from you this week. Maybe what He is telling you will bring a whole new look and perspective of you in His eyes. He continues to amaze us, so why not try and amaze Him? He is a proud father, and I encourage you to continue to make Him even more proud of you this week, along with every other day of your life. He may even guide you on a new adventure, a new road to the rest of your life. He has blessed me by showing me what He wants me to do with my life next year, and I cannot even express my happiness or excitement! He told me to go be apart of YWAM. (if you don’t known what YWAM is, it stands for Youth With A Mission, and I encourage you too look them up! The experience is truly amazing! & it’s all for God, so what could possibly be better than that?) You never know what He has in store for you, unless you listen to Him, you will never understand the incredible plans He has for you. I encourage you to talk and express yourself to Him each day. He listens, and will show you His love and plans for you. He will continue to give you signs, in numerous ways, just pay attention and you will have no doubt that they are from God. I am a living witness of that example!:) Trust in Him, and PRAY to Him about all this, and then write down that you feel like He has invited you to do.

For the LIVE part of this, I want you to meditate on this quote that is from the Book Of Common Prayer, and let yourself receive it on your own. “Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; nor the hope of the poor be taken away.”

Tonight, I will be praying that God shows you a new path for your life, and sends encouragement your way!

Peace & love.

SaraKath.