Do you ever get angry? Do you do some really stupid things?
Yes, I am guilty of both. I sometimes get angry at the people, I love. I get angry about politics. I sometimes do things that I shouldn’t. The point is that as adults, we have opportunities for repentance and asking for forgiveness. We hopefully learn from our mistakes.
My friend, Skip, always quotes this old saying, “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” As a retired police officer, he saw people making the same mistakes and expecting different results.
Joseph was a victim. He was abused, but he did not let that stop him from listening to the Holy Spirit. By all rights he should have been very angry at his brothers.
In Genisis 46:29 Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as, Israel made his appearance, Joseph threw his arms around him and wept a long time on his shoulder.
Picture in your mind today that hug. I feel the warmth and ,honestly, don’t want to leave that hug.
Joseph must have been very shrewd. He would never have risen from a slave to highest level of authority in another country without some skills. He also checked his anger or righteous indignation. He could have very easily killed or tortured the brothers that had tried to kill him, but he would never have experienced that hug from his father if he had gone the route of anger.
What would have happened had Joseph not chosen to be more dove like?
He would have missed out on so much.
We could be missing out on so much.
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will no be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Jesus does not paint a picture of peace and tranquility but of hardship and pain. The path that Jesus is suggesting is not easy. It wasn’t easy for Joseph but it was rewarding.
Joseph’s story could be entirely different had Joseph not chosen the other path. It wasn’t the easiest path but the most fruitful.
Wise as serpents…peaceful as doves…letting the Holy Spirit lead.
God Bless You Always
Bob Burford
Picture Credit: “Mourning doves on balcony” by Knoten2010 is marked with CC PDM 1.0
