If Joseph had harboured a deep desire for revenge during his two decades in Egypt, now was the perfect time to enact it. Here, at last, were his brothers, bowing before him, just as his dreams had predicted, and Joseph had all the power.

He could have refused their request for grain, or locked them up for years, or even ordered their execution. He did none of these things. How Joseph treated his brothers was not from a desire for revenge, but his need to know the state of their hearts. They had threatened his life all those years before; were they now honourable men?

It is clear that the brothers had long harboured feelings of guilt over what they had done. They believed that they were being punished by God because of what they did to Joseph. Moses would later warn the Israelites that “your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23), and he was right. Decades after they plotted against Joseph, they were still consumed by fear and guilt over what they did.

Many of us harbour regrets over past sin. Even as you are reading this, it may be that uncomfortable thoughts flash through your mind. Years of good works, of right living, of making amends, cannot erase our actions of the past. Our only hope is in God. Nothing and nobody else can deal with the shame that our own sinful actions cause us.

Guilt and shame can drive us to repentance, or it can drive us to despair. We can respond by turning to God, or by turning against others who we would prefer to blame, rather than accept the blame ourselves. If you are “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37) by the realisation of past or current sins, then it is time to confess, repent, and be filled again with the Holy Spirit. God’s promise is that “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

next devotional >>

 

 

NEWBOLD COMMUNITY CHURCH