Mind Games

PRAY You know how I'm feeling today, Lord I come to spend time with you. Please open my heart to the things you want me to know.

READ: Genesis 43-44

REFLECT: Joseph had resisted evil in his past (39:10) but this temptation was almost too much. After all his brothers had done it must have been difficult to restrain himself. "throw me in a pit! Sell me down the river! Wreck my life! OK, lets see how you like a taste of your own medicine?" Joseph had the upper hand the the power to crush his helpless siblings. But he didn't and it's worth asking why.

We don't usually think of anger as a temptation. Actually it's not anger itself that is bad. Getting angry is par of being human. Even Jesus got mad (John 2:12-17). But anger can tempt us to respond in the wrong way to those who offend us. "Yes, I'm angry... but he deserved it!" But two wrongs don't make a right. That's why the Bible says, "Be angry but do not sin" (Psalm 4:4 Ephesians 4:26).

Joseph buys some time by playing mind games with his brothers - not like in the Derren Brown clip! He asks about their father, plants a silver cup in their sacks and lines them up in birth order. Some may criticise him for not letting them off the hook right away. But real like isn't like that. Some hurts are so deep they take time and gradual pressure from God to get them out in the open. If you're feeling pressure or even anger about things in your past, maybe God is trying to tell you something. One of the best responses to past anger is to pray.

But the main reason Joseph didn't blow his brothers away is that he still loved them. Often we find that underneath our angriest feelings is a deep love. That's why lashing out is the worst thing you can do when you're angry. Joseph wisely finds a private place to weep (43:30). Honestly grieving about the hurts of the past is another essential step in the healing process. God uses it to soften our hardened hearts. Eventually, Joseph and his brothers would have to forgive and reconcile. But they weren't there yet... STAY TUNED!

APPLY Are there hurts from you past that are still unresolved? Do you need to find a private place to grieve and pray?