Genesis 45:4–5: “And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come near to me.’ So they came near. Then he said: ‘I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved nor angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.'”

October 30th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

When we receive forgiveness from God, we receive a new start for our lives, a fresh new beginning. Joseph extended forgiveness to his brothers. It doesn’t always remove all the hurt nor deny that a past wrong took place. But it simply gets the sin out of the way and offers to launch a new start. There are at least two lessons here:

1) Notice that Joseph calls his brothers to come close to him rather than pushing them away. Too often when people wrong us we respond by pushing them away. We will never restore a relationship with someone we are pushing away. If we are to restore relationships, we must begin drawing close to those who have hurt us. Often we initially need to put some distance between us and the other person, but if healing is going to start, we must eventually come together. Restoration never occurs during separation. We must choose to stop shutting them out and start letting them in.

2) Joseph was able to forgive because he saw his situation from an eternal perspective. He knew that even though his brothers intended to harm him, God was working through their sinful intent. Joseph acknowledged that God actually sent him to Egypt to help his own family. Even though it would not be written down for another 14 centuries, Joseph understood the truth of Romans 8 in the New Testament: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

All things that come into our lives, whether ease or pain, poverty or riches, storms or sunshine, God will use them to bring about some good in our lives. So that raises a question. Could God be using even the unpleasant things in our lives to bring some yet unseen good into it? Need a fresh start? Turn back to Him.

“LORD, we chose to forgive those who have taken advantage of us today. Give us a clean heart so we can serve You unhindered this day, in Jesus’ name.”