Genesis 45:1-15
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, ‘Send everyone away from me.’ So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.” And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honoured in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.’ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
Reflection
Sometimes things happen in our lives and we can't understand why until after another event unfolds. This is what happened to Joseph. Why did his brothers betray him and sell him into slavery in the first place? I know the obvious reason. The brothers were jealous of Joseph but sometimes I think God sets up another reason for things that happen. Or perhaps God doesn't set up other things to happen. Perhaps God let's our decisions, which always impact each other, to run the course. Perhaps God uses our decisions to walk with us and to lead us and guide us towards God so that the result is that God journeys each of our lives with each of us, yet doesn't control the outcome but influences our reactions through our faith in God.
All of this thinking seems to turn into a slippery slope. Does God have control or do we have control? Maybe there is a little of both. With Joseph, I'm not sure I think of God as controlling. God was blessing Joseph along the way and things happened. Through God's blessings, Joseph was able to redeem his relationship with his brothers and his family. Joseph was in a position to bless his brothers as well along the way.
Just yesterday I watched an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, which I record to watch, of an interview of Pharrell Williams. The reporter was trying to guide the interview towards why the song "Happy" was such a success and attribute the special talents of the musician to the reason. Pharrell kept leading the discussion away from himself towards the blessings he had received in life through the presence of key people at key times such as his High School music and band teachers. Even attributing his success due to certain situations that occurred that set up just the right string of events in his life to lead him towards a blessed life as a musician. Pharrell pointed out that some blessings took place because of hard knocks and failures. It seemed to me that Pharrell always pointed away from himself and towards the blessings of people and situations of life. I wonder if Joseph felt this same way? I think we all are in this situation as well.
God blesses us in life. We make decisions that may result in the hard knocks and other people make decisions that cause us to get caught up in hard knocks as well. But the reverse takes place too. Some decisions by ourselves and others results in some of the good things of life occurring to us. But in both the good and the bad we have God by our side loving and teaching and leading us all of the way. Like Pharrill we point away from ourselves and towards God and the blessings God richly provides in our lives in the good times and in the bad times. God is the reason and we can look back from the resurrection and see the wonder and the joy of the cross.
Yes, not only do we live this life of the ups and downs but God lived this life also in Jesus. Looking back from the resurrection the cross is lovely. Looking forward from the upper room the cross is torture. How blessed can we be today that we know of the resurrection of Jesus. We know the result and can live out our lives in faithfulness to God and in love to God and all the people God created and placed in our lives. We too live the resurrected life in the hope of Jesus return to finally make all things new and the way God intended. What hope! What blessings!
As Joseph called his brothers closer and closer may we live out our blessings in life in love for God and one another as we live our lives from the resurrection hope of Jesus Christ our Savior. That's a reason to be Happy!
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM
Prayer
Lord, may my eyes always give the credit and the honor and the glory to you alone. You provide the blessings and the love I need to live in the hope and faith of the resurrection. May all the blessings you have given to me spill over into the lives of those you give to me that all people may see your saving grace in the resurrection of Jesus... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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