When someone does us wrong, who is the first person we tell? Our most ardent supporter, of course.
After that, the temptation is to do as much damage as we can to our abuser.
Joseph was in a position to play God. He had reached the highest level in Egyptian government, second in power only to the pharaoh.
Then, to his amazement, his brothers who had sold him into slavery 22 years before showed up at his feet, bowing before him with their faces to the ground. He recognized them and remembered his dream as a boy, recalling how their sheaves of wheat would bow to his.
If Joseph wanted to take revenge, now was the time. All he had to do was tell the royal guards, and they would be killed. However, Joseph had not reached the pinnacle of Egyptian government for nothing. He was a brilliant man, and he devised a test that would prove if his brothers had truly undergone a change of heart since selling him into slavery.
Joseph immediately proclaimed them spies and threw them into prison, telling them that one must go and bring their youngest brother to him before they would be released. He wanted to see if they would abandon their youngest brother as they had abandoned him so long ago.
In Genesis 42:18, we read that after three days, Joseph went to his brothers, telling them that he feared God and would let them go. Even so, one brother must stay behind to ensure they would return with their youngest brother as proof they were not spies.
What a mastermind! He even placed their sacks of money back into their bags of grain to place more pressure on those who had betrayed him so many years before.
As he put his plans into motion, Joseph kept his intents to himself. After all, he had interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and saved the country from famine and certain starvation. If the Egyptians were to find out that his brothers had once sold him into slavery, they would not be allowed to buy food. Worse, his family might not be allowed to return to Egypt in the future, and he would be separated from them once again.
It would have been easy for Joseph to take revenge and satisfy his earthly nature. Instead, he told no one. That is what God expects from us. Rather than telling the people around us how much we’ve been hurt, we should tell it to God.
Psalm 142:1-2 makes this very clear. We are instructed to pour out our complaints unto the Lord. The third confirmation of true forgiveness is that it remains between us and God.
When someone has done us wrong, and we have forgiven them, only two people need to know. Jesus and us.
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