Holidays can be maddening when families bicker and jangle.
Why not transform hurt into healing for a better holiday season?
Do you have family members that are . . .
- mean?
- vindictive?
- vicious?
Joseph did.
Eleven brothers left him for dead and then sold him for 20 pieces of silver.
How would you feel the next time you saw family like that?
Joseph’s story is beyond tragic.
That’s why I believe it’s in the Bible because God has something to tell us about ugly and unfair people in our lives.
Transform hurt into healing
- Joseph was the youngest of twelve brothers.
- They hated Joseph.
- So, they plotted to murder him.
- They throw him into a cistern.
- They pull him out and sell him to merchants.
- The merchants sell him again to an Egyptian official.
- He makes Joseph his attendant.
- But, his wife falsely accuses Joseph of rape.
- So, he’s thrown into jail!
- Joseph becomes head attendant in the jail!
He calls for Joseph to interpret a dream and this happens.
“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.’” Genesis 41:39-40
Always a way to turn things around
- From vagabond to Pharoah’s attendant (Gen. 39:1-3)
- From prisoner to Pharaoh’s palace (Gen. 41:39-40)
- From Pharaoh’s palace to Governor of the land (Gen. 42:6)
Fruitful while suffering
Think of how successful you can be with . . .
- attacks
- animosity
Just be clear.
By “clear” I mean “forgiving.”
And often the hardest folks to forgive are family.
“It’s the continual suppression of unresolved feelings and emotions that cause the problems we experience in our lives.” Karol Truman, Feelings Buried Alive Never Die
Successful folks. . .
- never stop forgiving even when cruelty prevails.
- never stop trusting God for their relationships.
- never stop believing the best in their family.
Joseph’s advice for a happy family
All the surrounding nations were traveling to Egypt because Joseph had brilliantly harvested and stored grain in every Egyptian city during the good times.
His brothers line up with everyone else to buy grain and when they see him, they don’t recognize him, but he recognizes them!
“Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” Genesis 45:1-7
Joseph’s advice for wholesome relationships?
- Forgive as God forgives you.
- Heal the same way God heals you.
Look for nothing in return.
What makes your holidays work?