Thursday 22 August, 2019

45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.[a] 8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’ 12 “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.” 14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

The human story was Joseph, sold into slavery by jealous brothers to Egypt. The God story was Joseph sent by God to save many lives, including his own brothers and whole family.

Interestingly, the brothers up until this moment were only aware of one story, the human story. The news Joseph brings them here would have been a revelation to them. How do we get from the purely human view of life to the God story of our lives?

Joseph must have learnt to pay attention to God and what He was doing in His life. He says God sent him to Egypt three times in this passage. And a fourth reference to God being involved, God making him lord of Egypt. God was not silent, nor absent, from Joseph’s life. Neither is He in mine. But am I paying attention to what He is saying, what He is doing? Such that I can see and testify with confidence and clear resolve, like Joseph here – “I’m not just living a human story. I’m living a God story.”

Help me pray attention to the story You are telling in & through my life Lord. What You are saying and doing, help me hear and observe, and testify to. Amen

Written by Ps. Rob Waugh