Joseph, now on
his way to Egypt, and Reuben, who had planned to rescue him at an opportune
time, did not know about it. To his horror, when he returned to the pit where
they had left Joseph’s frail body, he was nowhere to be found. Tearing his
robe, he cried desperately, “The boy is not there; as for me, where
am I to go?” It’s
his way of saying “Where can I escape my father’s wrath?” Being the oldest, he
anticipated that the blame would fall squarely on him. The only response he got
from his brothers was absolute silence.
The plot had thickened and it
centred on the multi-coloured tunic of Joseph. The very coat that expressed Jacob’s
deep love for his son that became the brothers’ deep hate. Now all that it
would become would be the sad instrument for deception. So we read in verses
31-33 “So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a
male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; and
they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We
found this; please examine it to see whether
it is your son’s tunic or not.” Then he examined
it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured
him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”
Remember years ago, Jacob, at
the instigation of his mother, used goat skins to deceive his father and stole
Esau’s blessing. Now the cockerel indeed had returned to roost. What goes
around truly comes around. What he did years ago had come full cycle. He
identified his son’s clothes, he saw the mutilated condition of the robe and
his conclusion was Joseph was gone forever. Can’t imagine the sorrow that had
pierced his soul that day. While traditional mourning would usually take a week,
he insisted that his would last till the day he dies. That was the depth of his
love and the depth of his sorrow. Nothing and no one could comfort him. What an
irony it must have been. The brothers knew that Joseph was not dead. He was
bound for Egypt. All they could reminisce was the desperate wail of their
brother from the dried well. Ever wondered how their conscience could withstand
the deceit? That’s the depth of sin and deception. Hardened, totally hardened.
Meanwhile regarding Joseph,
verse 36 had this to say “…the Midianites sold him
in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.” Now God’s
plan for the life of Joseph and his destiny had taken the first step. What would
become of Joseph? We all know the conclusion because we have the advantage of
living many centuries after what had happened. And we probably cannot understand
the magnanimity of Joseph. He absolutely had good reasons to engage in
self-pity. Who could blame him if he had developed a victim’s mentality? Humanly
speaking, who could have blamed him if he were to be angry with God? But the
mind-set of Joseph was nowhere near to any of these. He refused to engender a victimised
mentality. He made the best of his circumstance and not wallow in self-pity. That’s
the mind-set we must emulate. When life throws lemon at us, someone said, we
can make lemonade out of it. We don’t have to develop and live with a slave and
victim’s mentality. Shouldn’t we rise up from the ashes of our circumstances
and put our hope and trust in God? For surely God is not through with us yet.
In all circumstances, remember, God is working out all things for our good and
for His glory.
What have all
these got to do with us? Just as it was for Joseph, life often hurls at us what
seems like injustice, unfairness, inequality and even tragedy. We must never
allow them to cause us to develop a victim’s mentality to engage in a self-pity
complex. We don’t have to live with the scars of betrayal. The greatest injustice
fell on our glorious Lord. Yet in the depth of His indescribable agony, He
cried “… Father forgive them.” Life’s realities are undeniable – wound of hurts
are real painful. But the ultimate reality is that our God has all the power,
and He is working His will in our life through the hardest of circumstances.
Let’s learn to live optimally for Him!
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