Trusting God's Plan in the Waiting: Lessons From the Life of JosephExemplo

LEARNING FROM YOUR MISTAKES

Think about a big mistake you made, one in which you are truly embarrassed it happened or you acted that way. Did you learn something from your mistake? Repenting means not only learning from it but doing a 180-degree turn and changing your ways permanently. We get to see a great example of repentance through Judah in today’s passage.

After a night of great dinner and drinks, Joseph tells his servant to send the brothers home with sacks full of grain, their silver, and one critical addition - Joseph’s own silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. Joseph isn’t perfect. He has amazing traits but he is also a hurt individual who is testing those who hurt him.  Even with his pain, it doesn’t make it right. It’s possible Joseph also needed a reason to see his father again, so why not retain Benjamin as a slave? When he hatched this plan, he had no idea how his brothers would react.

After the brothers deceived their dad, they had to live with the guilt of their lies and the pain they had caused their father. Day after day, they saw their father lamenting the loss of his son. Jacob had become a shell of the patriarch he had been in the past, and all due to his sons and their horrible lie. I don’t believe they had any idea of the consequences of their actions.  

Thirteen years of watching Jacob lament the loss of Joseph had changed the brothers. Judah knows if they don’t go home with Benjamin, it will literally kill their dad. That is a fate worse than death for Judah so he steps up to the plate and offers himself and his freedom to prove it. Talk about a change from the man who years ago went along with such a terrible plan to get rid of his brother. Judah is now a broken man and has learned from the pain he has cost others. Stay tuned for tomorrow, the big reveal is about to happen!

Questions:    

• Have you carried forward behaviors you witnessed from your past that have hurt you or others in your life?    
• What can you learn from Judah and his change of heart?   
• Is there someone in your past who you have hurt that you need to ask for forgiveness?