Take a Step Back and Love them Anyway – Genesis 45

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold to Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to save lives. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. So God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. (4-8)

This text always amazes me. I think we all understand that God is in control of our lives and has a plan for us. Yet, that doesn’t keep us from being annoyed or angry with those who seek to oppose or thwart us. We rarely get mad at God when bad things happen to us because we know that He has a plan and He is working for our good. However, we often feel justified to be angry with the people who insult us, attack us, or oppose us in some way. What Joseph understood is that even opposition from others is a part of God’s plan for our lives to make us who we are supposed to be and to position us where we need to be. Amazingly, Joseph, held no grudge with his brothers and he never asked for (or expected) an apology. In fact, he didn’t even want them to be upset with themselves because of their sinful deeds. Joseph saw the hand of God in everything that had happened in his life, and surprisingly, he would not have changed a thing.

I struggle to understand how he did not grieve for the lost years from his father, the suffering in prison, or the shame he endured as a slave. Somehow, Joseph was able to see the big picture and realize that God was the one who had used those means to get him to where he needed to be so he could save his family in the end. We need to have this same perspective in our everyday trials. We will face problems and people will drive us crazy. This doesn’t mean they are right or that what they are doing is right. However, we can take comfort in the fact that everything is a part of God’s sovereign plan, and even the foolishness of other people can be used to shape us and position us to be instruments of God’s glory. Taking a step back from your problems and looking at them from Joseph’s perspective will not only help you get through them, but it will also help you to give a pass to other people who are a thorn in your side. God is allowing them to aggravate you for a reason, lean into that and love them anyway.