Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 44 before reading the devotional below.
I don’t know about you, but I would not have been able to keep up the charade that Joseph has in keeping his identity secret from his brothers. He’s still pulling a fast one on them, and as they leave for home he plans one last bit of trouble. He hides his personal silver cup in his brother Benjamin’s bag and then sends his men after them to accuse him of stealing.
The Bible doesn’t make it clear what Joseph’s long-term plan is. Is he just messing with their heads, or did he intend to keep Benjamin with him while sending the rest of his brothers away? We’ll find out tomorrow how it all plays out, but it seems like Joseph was not working off a long-term strategy. Perhaps his emotions were driving him, and ultimately emotions bring him to a breaking point.
Here’s your freedom for today:
Freedom comes with acceptance of your human limitations.
Joseph was a human. He was only emotionally capable of so much. He had been through more trials in his brief lifetime than most of us can imagine, and he’s running a food program for the entire MIddle East region while standing face to face with the very brothers who betrayed him. He’s overcome. He acts out of impulse and has a mix of getting revenge on his brothers and showering them with kindness. Even though I haven’t been through anything like Joseph, I can relate to his humanity. Facing people who have hurt you brings up a lot. Today I’m just sitting in a place of acceptance that hard emotions are part of the human experience. I can find freedom in not trying to make hard feelings “go away,” but instead accept them part of going through life.