You have no reason to hold a grudge

For the full context of this post read Genesis 37:12-36 and 39:1- 50:21

Joseph’s brothers were cruel to him. They meant to harm him. They told their father he had been killed by an animal, but in reality they had sold him as a slave to gypsies who were traveling to Egypt. In Egypt Joseph was accused of rape and put into prison. While in prison Joseph interpreted dreams for two of Pharaoh’s officials and one of them, Pharaoh’s cup bearer, was restored to his position, and promised to remember Joseph, but did not. Joseph spent another two years forgotten in prison before he was brought before Pharaoh to interpret a dream. Upon interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph was made second in command to Pharaoh, and his leadership provided rations of food for all the people during a famine in which they would have otherwise starved. During this famine Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt to get food so that they would not die. When they were reunited with their brother, they were terrified, as they should have been. Joseph had the authority to repay them evil for evil. He did not. Here is what Joseph said to his brothers:

8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” (Genesis 45:8).

19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them (Genesis 50:19 - 21).

Have you ever had something bad turn out for good? Have you ever been wronged by someone, but because of the situation something better happened? Has your pain ever launched into a blessing? Has God made beauty out of the ashes of your ruins? Has he used your story to encourage and restore others? Can you say to those who have hurt you, “It is not you who sent me here, but God.”? Don't miss the significance of that statement.

Are you divorced? Have you been betrayed? Has somebody hurt you to the core of who you are? Do you have wounds that cut so deep that there is a person, or people, or a church that you cannot bear the thought of? Do you hold a grudge? Are you bitter? Does anger, fear, panic, hurt, and a variety of other anxious emotions rise up within you when you think of that person or what has been done to you? Can you say, “It is not you who sent me here, but God.”?

We may not be in a position to take revenge on the people who have hurt us, but Joseph was. He could have taken any revenge that he wanted, but he knew it was not his brothers who sent him to Egypt, but God. Joseph was sold as a slave, accused of rape, put into prison and forgotten so that God could make him into the man that he needed him to be to help preserve a remnant on earth and to save the lives of others. Could it be that whatever has happened to you, whoever meant to harm you, however you have been wronged has happened so that you could grow and mature into the person that God needs you to be for the purposes that he has for your life? If God is the one who determined your end destination, you cannot hold a grudge towards those who have helped you to get to that destination. Were you given a ride on a gypsie wagon to get to where God wanted you to be? Thank those who made your travel arrangements for you! Does it feel like you have been chained and forgotten in a prison for years? Thank those who have given you the bed and breakfast accommodations for food and lodging!

I am not making light of any wrong done to you, but I do know that I cannot hold a grudge towards those who have helped me to get to the place that God wanted me to be at and I cannot hold a grudge towards those who have helped me to grow the character that God needs me to have so that I can fulfill his future purposes for me. “It is not you who sent me here, but God.” It’s time to let go of bitterness, hurt, and anger. It’s time to put down the grudge. It’s time to say, “It’s not you who sent me here, but God.”