Neighbor Groups: Embrace FamiliesSampl

Even the Messy Matters

Families. They carry a lot of different emotions, baggage, and memories for people. Even people with the best families have memories or moments from childhood that they work through as adults. It could be navigating family drama, unmet expectations, or figuring out that maybe your “perfect” family wasn’t so perfect after all.

And then there are people with brokenness and trauma associated with their families—whether it’s a messy divorce, foster care, death in the family, or an unhealthy or abusive family member.

Regardless of what your family looked like, we’ve all experienced some degree of hurt within our families. Still, God has a purpose for every family, even if we can’t see it in the moment.

Joseph experienced this firsthand when he found himself sold into slavery by his brothers. In a long, winding, strange turn of events, Joseph goes from slavery to prison to overseeing Egypt.

While overseeing Egypt, Joseph learns that a famine is coming, and he prepares the country by storing foods from the preceding harvests. However, in his hometown, his family—including his father and brothers—are experiencing the consequences of the famine.

So Joseph’s father sends them to Egypt to buy grain. After testing his brothers to ensure they had changed, Joseph welcomes them, offering them forgiveness and reconciling their relationships.

What the brothers had originally intended for evil in selling Joseph was positioning the entire family into a place of blessing.

Joseph’s story reminds us that families can be messy. But God still has a purpose for them, even when we can’t see it. 

Over the next few days, we’ll explore God’s heart for families and discover how we can all play a part in connecting people to the loving relationships they need to thrive in life. 

Pray: Heavenly Father, when I think about my family, I think about _______. Still, I trust that You have a plan that’s bigger and better than I could ever imagine. Help me find gratitude in every family situation, even if I wouldn’t have chosen it myself. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Challenge: Consider a family experience that seemed purposeless at the time. What have you learned about God since that event?