Still Waters

„I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 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 send me ahead of you.” “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 45:4-8

Forgiveness is sometimes seen as something wrong and so often misunderstood. It is our greed, our pride and our pain that leaves us attached to that sad feeling of not wanting to forgive, or maybe the idea that holding a grudge gives us power over someone – that causing them pain somehow fixes what happened, when in reality, it only holds us still in the same place, it keeps us stuck, not moving, not evolving and not learning – stuck in something that was not God’s purpose for us. A true example of that was Joseph, who after being sold to Egypt by his own brothers, simply trusted the Lord, continued his journey always following His leadership and as promised, He brought him grand things. He made him lord of all Egypt. He could’ve simply held a grudge, tried to get revenge on his own blood, but that would have kept him stuck in something that was not God’s purpose for him. You see sometimes God will have “funny”, or in this situation what seems tragic, ways of pivoting you towards your purpose or what it is that is waiting for you. Maybe you will lose your job, be forced to move places, go through a breakup, grief, lose a friend, lose money, something that means a lot to you. Just because it comes from God, doesn’t mean you won’t suffer. Just because He prepared the way for you, doesn’t mean you won’t be challenged – we don’t know the way to our purpose, so we need to trust that the Lord will lead us there, regardless of all setbacks. Notice how Joseph assures his brothers that it was not them who sent him to Egypt, but God. How is that possible? Did they not sell him to Egypt? And if yes, how was that God? Whatever made them act the way they did and sell Joseph, God showed him the way after that happened – God knew Joseph would be ok and Joseph knew God was with him, he need not fear. But what does that mean for his brothers? I like to think that in bad situations there are always two sides to the coin – while Joseph went ahead to fulfil his purpose, his brothers were left to tell their father a lie, to tell him his son had died and keep that lie until the day Joseph was needed and revealed himself to them. Both signs of the coin learned valuable lessons, both sides went through exactly what they had to go through. You see, just because someone hurt you, it doesn’t make them more powerful. Just because they caused you pain, it doesn’t mean they hold more value or meaning than you, it doesn’t mean they will be happier and get the best in life, like most of us think. “Bad people always win” an expression I deeply disagree with. What did they win? Recognition on the material world? Valuable material things? People started to fear them, which gets confused with respect? I say they didn’t win but lost yet another piece of themselves – they put yet another mask on to hide how lost they are, so they fill the void with other things. When one feels threatened, they attack and to many, someone who is happy just as they are, can sometimes feel more threatening than a whole army. So be mindful and forgiving of those who hurt you. Remember this: “…and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew 6:9-13

Do not hold grudges, for all they do is hold yourself back. And if someone hurts you and you feel pain, use it to push yourself forward. Trust that God has seen your suffering, He was there next to you and saw what you went through but also know, that He removed that piece from your life for a reason, that it happened because both you and the other side of the coin needed to go through that, for you to pivot and for them to learn. You see, a rock can only move if you give it a kick even when inside a river that is flowing. A leaf can fall on running water and get stuck on a tree branch that had fallen beforehand – the leaf needs a little nudge to continue its journey down the river. Let God be the nudge, the kick and the strength that moves you forward. Let Him pivot you into the direction He needs you to follow so you can get to the destination He had intended for you to reach, however painful it may feel – that pain might be felt with more intensity because you keep trying to figure out a heavenly plan with your human mind, so let go of your understanding and all you thought you knew. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher that earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” Isaiah 55:8-9