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Friday August 29 - Grief’s painful story
(Jacob) refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn
until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him. Genesis 37:35
The brothers returned with a tattered blood-stained coat, encouraging their father to believe that Joseph had been killed by wild animals. They hatched the story to cover up their sin – cover ups are as old as history itself. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, consumed by guilt, attempted to hide their nakedness with the work of their hands – fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). Cover ups never work, they alienate us from God and from one another. The brothers’ actions meant they had to live with a terrible secret, and made their father a distraught and broken man. They caused Jacob to believe a heartbreaking lie.
Most of us will know what it is to lose loved ones; the pain is indescribable. In prison ministry, we run a rolling 4-week course on ‘Living with loss’. Month by month, we hear heart-rending stories, often involving complex, messed-up families like Joseph’s. In a semi-structured way, we simply provide a platform for the men to talk about and understand their personal journeys. As they begin to open up, light shines in the darkness and we begin to see the transforming power of God’s love at work.
Dear friend, if you are struggling, please pray that God will show you someone you can talk with today. God wants to comfort you (Matthew 5:4).
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Thank you, Father, that when Jesus stood with the mourners at Lazarus’ tomb, he wept (John 11:35). May I know his compassion and the strength that he alone can give. Amen.
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Thank you, Father, that ‘for no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God’ (2 Corinthians 1:20). AMEN!
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Saturday August 30 - Destiny’s strange story Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of
Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. Genesis 37:36
We close this week’s reflections finding Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt. The one who received prophetic dreams of leadership now finds himself sold as a chattel along with spices from the east!
Dreams dashed, cut adrift, alone in an alien land, struggling with the language and customs, hated by his brothers, unable to contact his grieving father, and now finding himself a refugee and victim of human trafficking. It is difficult to imagine how desolate Joseph felt.
In the weeks ahead, we will trace God at work in Joseph’s life in surprising and awesome ways. We will see how Joseph remained strong and virtuous without malice. He was stripped of his coat but not his character – a character of many colours. Hallelujah!
Despite the mess, God’s plans were still in place. God had not forsaken Joseph, and he has not forsaken you. I love the final verse of Stuart Townend’s song ‘In Christ Alone’, and I speak it over you: ‘No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand; ‘til he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand.’
PRAYER FOR TODAY