Joseph's Way

Genesis 37: 26-28

Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. 28So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

Forgiveness is not blind. It's does not happen at the spur of the moment. It's a process. Let us take example and inspiration from Joseph. Why and how did he forgive his brothers?

His brothers had sinned against Joseph and God. But God had a different plan. He wanted to use Joseph for ensuring continuity of his family. Think about this: If Joseph had been left alone to be a shepherd, would he have ever become the Egyptian second in command? Probably not. Would the race have survived? Probably not. But God does not work on probabilities. Thats not his way. 

Joseph forgave his brothers, after their true repentance. The Agape Bible study explains this so well and the following points are taken from here https://www.agapebiblestudy.com/Genesis/Lesson_18.htm

"Joseph put his brothers through three tests -

"The first test was the brothers' three-day imprisonment which was intended to cause them to come to terms with their sin against him.

The second was a test of their willingness to rescue their brother Simeon by bringing their brother Benjamin to Egypt and retuning the money Joseph put in the sacks of their pack animals.

The third was a test of their willingness to sacrifice their freedom for the life of their youngest brother, Benjamin".

Only after these were successfully completed, did real forgiveness set in because Joseph was sure that true repentance had set in.

That was Josephs way. 

Forgiveness, while being at the core of the Christian faith, is not to be given away like bread. It is to be nurtured so that all ill feeling is got rid of completely, from both sides. 

Evil will happen. But if we look, and ask for Gods help, we can find good in evil. And when we do that, we can either continue to hate the perpetuator of that evil or choose to find the good, praise God and forgive, after we are sure that there is true repentance and sorrow. If we don't find repentance, it is still possible not to hate since we derived good from their evil act.

Pride and Prejudice: Pastor Rajiv's Mid-week message

 

Diligent Planning

                                          

One of the four pillars of management is planning. It is also a natural outcome of living - we make plans for every minute of our day. For our careers, our families for every aspect of our life, we have a plan. We, each also have a certain vision for our life as well, which we plan to achieve.

Some plans fructify into the desired result, some don't and some actually have the opposite effect. Then we quickly alter our plan to cater to the new realities we face.

What we don't realize is that God, our creator, also has a plan for us and one which does not change (that's the scary part). Therefore, the degree of success of our plan lies in its proximity to Gods plan because we all have a God given purpose and which needs to be fulfilled. End of the day, God is NOT a rubber stamp! 

Incidentally, the word “plan” appears 205 times throughout the books of the Bible. It begins with and concludes with Revelation; such is the importance accorded to that word. 

Proverbs 21:5 says - 

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

So what is this diligence it talks about? 

When we make our plans, we ought to avail ourselves of His wisdom and seek His purpose. It may be a good idea to seek His guidance and help through prayer. For sure He will let us know whether our intended plan is in sync with His will for our life.

The big question is this: How do I know God's will? Well for starters, we need to build a relationship with Him. Christianity is all about relationship rather than just religion.

Secondly we must learn to be observant. We are not animals who go through life either wild or being led. We are humans, with a free will and a mind of our own. The power of observation is one of God's gifts to us and we must use it. God often clearly demonstrates His plan for our lives by lining up circumstances in obvious ways. And He also shows us what His will is NOT for us to do in that same way.

Lastly, God's plans maybe and probably will be tough, but they are never evil. If we believe in Him, and have faith, we must remember that. Its easy to trust when the going is good, the real rest comes when things get tough. Yet, for us to be successful, we must trust! 

Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”