Vayigash

“God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  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.”  Genesis 45:7-8

In these two sentences Joseph sums up his feelings towards his brothers.  Not only does he not hold a grudge against them for stripping him of his coat, his family and freedom he declares that everything was a part of God's plan.

 

We rarely have a choice in what happens to us but we always have a choice in the way that we respond.  Some of us prefer to harbor feelings of anger and resentment and coddle them until they become malignant. Others choose the path of forgiveness because that is a gift to them, as well as to us. In the latter instance, a religious person understands that our choices can also be God directed.  

 

We all write the narrative of our own lives. In our book of life we count the favors that God has done for us or we rail against Him for our personal failures or the ways that we feel that we have been mistreated.  Joseph sees his life in terms of gratitude. God has given him the gift coming to Egypt, saving his life and the lives of all of the Egyptians: God has made him indispensable to the Pharaoh and now he greets his brothers with open arms and tears of love.


What will be written in your book?

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