Constantly in the transformation business
Genesis 50:19, 21
Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God?”
Jacob has just died. Joseph and his brothers have returned from the funeral, but on the way back, fear and suspicion begin to grow and take on their own lives among Joseph’s brothers. What if, they say, now is when Joseph will take his rightful revenge? Now that their father is gone?
So they send a letter to Joseph and the letter says that their father wanted Joseph to vow he would not call in the debt against his brothers—his eye for an eye.
There are two lines in this chapter that stop my breath. One is the end of verse 17:
When Joseph received their message, he wept.
I can’t help but remember Joseph’s deep conflict, his internal struggle when he first re-encountered his brothers decades after they sold him into slavery. And his wailing when he let go of the wound which was his deep grievance against them.
My sense is that Joseph weeps here because even now, his brothers have not been able to understand the true nature of his heart—which longs only for reconciliation.
On the eve of my divorce, I felt not only deep grief, but also shame and failure. I wrote a letter to a friend to give her the news because I could not bear to call her. My former husband and I are her son’s godparents.
She called late at night, and I made myself answer. We talked for hours. Her compassion and understanding were beyond anything I had imagined. I’ll never forget her response when I said I did not know how she would receive the news.
Susan, she said, I know your heart.
That simple affirmation brought a flood of grace that washed over me and returned each time I remembered her words. Maybe others would make assumptions and judge me, but here was a friend who, despite the distance and time between us, was telling me she knew who I really was. She knew my heart.
In the following verses, Joseph’s brothers throw themselves at his feet, begging for mercy, and he speaks his words of reassurance: Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see you planned evil against me, but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—lives for many people.
When Joseph says, “Do I act for God?” I think his meaning here is much deeper than simply it’s not his place to judge. I believe Joseph is saying how could he possibly undo God’s divine work of transforming something terrible into something life-giving? And the transformative plan that God wrought was life-giving not only for Joseph and his brothers, but for all the Egyptians saved from famine.
Joseph can see a much bigger picture of God at work not just in his life and his brothers’ lives, but God using individuals for God’s bigger purpose of love and life for all people.
What if we trusted that God was constantly in the transformation business? And how might we be open to transformation knowing God knows our hearts better than anyone?
The final scene of this final chapter in the book of Genesis ends with the other verse that catches my breath with its beauty:
He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.
Heart to heart!!