Forgiveness and Reconciliation

The Bondage of Fear

Genesis 50:15–18 (NIV)

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?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘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.

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

We operate most days in response to the trauma, conflict, brokenness and sin of our past. As each new situation arises, we default to worst case scenario and what if. This is exactly where the brothers find themselves. They are fearful of how Joseph’s demeanor might shift as the protection of their father no longer remains. What if Joseph was only kind to us out of respect for Jacob?

The Freedom of God’s Authority

Genesis 50:19–26 (NIV)

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.

Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”

So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

The freedom that comes from trusting in the Lord’s plan. We do not have to be the judge or the jury. We do not have to define what is of worth or value. We have instead been set free to do as the Lord leads and trust that in every need, He will provide and that in every outcome, His will will be done.

This is where everything changes. Do we embrace the relationship that the Lord has for us and trust in the relationship and life that He has offered, or will we continue to make excuses and live in the fear that comes from determining outcomes without the power to actually make those outcomes happen?

1 John 5:1–5 (NIV)

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.