Tag Archives: how did joseph forgive

December 1, 2025 · 5:43 AM

Trust The Process

One of the lessons in life we have to learn is that everyone will go through difficult times. In Matthew 5:45 Jesus said that God causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. So hard times are not just part of life, they’re part of God’s plan for you. It matters how we respond in them, how we trust in them and how we grow in them. Honestly, it’s hard to see God’s hand when we are going through a difficult time, but I’ve learned that He’s always there in them guiding me and shaping me through them. When you get further away from them and look back, it’s easier to see His hand at work during those times. That’s why how we respond in them matters.

In Genesis 37, Joseph was a young boy who did things that made his brothers hate him. Being his father’s favorite didn’t help. When God gave him dreams about his brothers bowing down to him, it set off a chain of events that saw his brothers beat him up, sell him as a slave, he was falsely accused and sent to prison where he was forgotten. He trusted God through years of difficulties knowing that somehow God would use these circumstances to fulfill the dream. It’s hard to hard to look ahead when times are hard, so Joseph simply trusted God’s plan. In one day he was freed and placed second in command of Egypt. It may have seemed like it suddenly happened, but it was years in the making as God grew and shaped Joseph. When his brothers arrived and bowed down, he didn’t gloat. Instead he forgave.

In Genesis 50:20 Joseph told them, “Even though you intended to hurt me, God intended it for good. It was his plan all along, to ensure the survival of many people” (TPT). Joseph was able to see God had caused it to rain in his life, not because he had done anything wrong, but so that others could be saved as a result of his suffering. When you look back at the hardest times of your life, what do you see God doing? I can see Him repositioning me and reshaping me. If you’re feeling forgotten right now or going through the hardest time of your life, keep trusting God’s plan. You may not get the perspective right away to see what He’s doing, but if you trust Him and the process, He will make sure that all things work together for your good and the good of others.

Photo by Kristjan Kotar on Unsplash

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January 20, 2016 · 6:19 AM

Choose Forgiveness 

  
When you’ve been hurt by someone, you can either forgive them or you can hold a grudge. Holding a grudge makes you look at the chain reaction of what they did to you, and then blame them for how you ended up where you are. It creates “if then” statements in your mind: “If they hadn’t done that to me, then I wouldn’t have been in this miserable place in life.” Anything bad that happens in your life gets blamed on them. Your mind becomes consumed with how bad things are, and you create a perpetual cycle of a downward spiral.

When you forgive someone for hurting you, you set your mind free. You no longer give that person power over you and the direction of your life. You are no longer consumed by the bitterness that creeps into every area of your life. You no longer dread waking up each day, and your perspective changes. You can look back at that moment and see how God used it to get you where you to be. You quit despising the life you have, and begin to see it as a blessing.

If anyone ever had a reason to hold a grudge, it was Joseph. His brothers beat him, threw him in a cistern, and sold him as a slave. That event took him away from all he had known. His freedom and all he had were taken from him in an instant. Hew as Farley accused and spent years in prison because of their betrayal. Bitterness could have linked it all together and made him hate his brothers. Instead, he chose forgiveness and God blessed him for it.

Forgiveness is about remembering we aren’t perfect ourselves. We make mistakes and hurt others too. God wants us to give people room to make mistakes and then to forgive them. Colossians 3:13 says, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (NLT). If you’ve held onto a grudge towards someone because they’ve hurt you, let it go snd forgive them. Quit giving them control of your life and your mind. Bitterness is unbecoming.

When you let go of it, instead of always thinking about how bad your life has gotten, you will be able to see how God has used that situation for your good. You will see that the path you were on wasn’t going to get you where God wanted you. It’s easier to move on when you see that God can use what’s been done to you to help someone else. You can now shine a light into someone else’s darkness and show them the way out if you choose forgiveness. 

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