Wednesday, October 11, 2006
 

Fall foliage in Clinton County, Pennsylvania

Today's audio podcast reading features the background song, "In Christ Alone"
(click here to listen to this message on your audio player.)

"He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again" (Genesis 42:24a).  "See to it that …no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15).

I recently prayed with a friend over a troubling situation.  As I concluded my prayer I noticed he was weeping and somewhat trying to hide it.  (We men tend to feel apologetic when we express our emotions.) This man has incurred a deep hurt that surely shakes his faith.  He will battle the question we all deal with in regard to life's inevitable hurts. "Will I grow bitter or better as a result of this?"

Joseph is an interesting Bible character.  In his book "Gleanings in Genesis" A.W. Pink notes 101 parallels between Joseph and Christ.  Obviously I won't list them all here!  One of the interesting characteristics of Joseph is his freely expressed emotions.  In the Genesis story we find him weeping on eight different occasions. 

Today's Scripture portion records an event that took place during his first encounter with his brothers after a separation of 20 years.  The last time he had seen them was from the back of a caravan while he was being hauled off as a slave to Egypt, thanks to their devious plot.  During these years he had many occasions when bitterness could have set in.

However, God had worked on his heart all through this time and we are constantly reminded that "the Lord was with him".

Have others hurt you?  Of course they have!  Oswald Chambers has observed that "it is nonsense to say that suffering makes saints; it makes some people devils".  Joseph's heart could have hardened after the long years of hurt and separation from his family.  If anybody had ever been mistreated it was he.  Consider all the years he had to "nurse his pain".  Even in Egypt he had experienced several serious, disappointing setbacks before his eventual promotion. 

Yet he didn't grow bitter.  And on the occasion in today's text, while Joseph was in a position of authority over his brothers, he saw their deep consternation and was emotionally overwhelmed.

Are the hard experiences of life, including hurts from others, going to make you bitter or better? Joseph expresses one of the great principles of life he has personally realized from this very difficult experience; "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives"  (Genesis 50:20). 


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Jesus, when we are hurt we naturally turn away from the source of our pain.  But then we're inclined to carry that pain inwardly where it can easily spread and damage our emotions, distort our outlook, and strain our relations with others.  If we don't surrender our bruised emotions to You the growing root of bitterness begins to squeeze out the stored up blessings we receive from You day after day.  The by-products of bitterness such as anger, rage, self-pity and other destructive attitudes become the order of the day, paving the way back to our old nature.

 But You have ordered us to rid ourselves of all such things that violate the new self as we are being renewed in the image of our Creator.  We can only do this as we clothe ourselves daily with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Help us to bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances we have against one another.  We can only do this as we carry out the same kind of forgiveness that You, our Lord and Savior, demonstrate toward us.  You are the supreme example of One who embraced enemies who mocked You and friends who betrayed You. Help us, in as much as it is possible, to live at peace even with those who inflict wounds.  By Your grace and our surrendered will we choose to cut off the root of bitterness and grow the fruit of the spirit in our lives.  Amen.

*The second paragraph of today's prayer I paraphrased from selected portions of Colossians 3.

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The church sits on 7.7 acres on the side of a hill and
this is the fall foliage scene as you enter the parking lot!