Daily devotions

Thursday

It´s Thusday - reflections on Genesis



'Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back into his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey.' Genesis 42:25

Not only did Joseph give his brothers all the corn they wanted but he also secretly gave them back the silver with which they had paid him for it, plus provisions for the journey. His kindness towards them was totally undeserved. Similarly, our Father's kindness and abundant blessings to us are totally undeserved.

Now we know that the brothers' guilty consciences had been stirred, (v21). Those with guilty consciences will often think the worst of those whose generosity stems from the purest of motives. What should have brought joy filled the brothers with fear. They were suspicious and thought it was trickery on the part of this 'lord over all the land,' (which was what they called Joseph, vs 30,33). What should have been seen as a blessing was looked upon as a curse from God, (v28).

When they got back home and told Jacob all about what had happened, he was distressed. He had lost Joseph, and now Simeon too, (left behind in prison in Egypt by the brothers), he thought. Now his remaining sons want to put Benjamin in jeopardy too! 'Everything is against me,' Jacob cries. Sometimes that is how everything seems when one disaster follows another. But things were not as they appeared to be for Jacob. In fact everything would prove to be the reverse; everything was working together towards both Jacob's good and the good of his family.

Through our limited human eyes and the weakness of our faith, we can so easily see that which is for us as being against us. Even tragedies and those things that seem to be leading to disaster are not necessarily what they appear to be from our very limited perspective. We must never forget God's word in Romans 8:28, 'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.' God bless you all.

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