029 Joseph: Grappling with Guilt

Up to this point in this series, we’ve been looking at the story from Joseph’s point of view. In this episode, we turn the tables and look at the story from the viewpoint of Joseph’s brothers. We learn that these men who had victimized Joseph had been haunted by guilt.

But God wants to heal them too. He wants their hearts whole no less than He did Joseph’s. But first He had to awaken their consciences. How did He do that? In this passage, we see that God awakened them with affliction. He stunned them with kindness. And He perplexed them with circumstances.

God often gets our attention in the same ways. We feel like we keep running into a brick wall – hardship after hardship. Or we are blown away by God’s blessing. How could we behave so faithlessly when God has been so faithful to us?  Other times the “coincidences” in life all seem to be sending us the same message. But will we listen?

The Bible says that the way to deal with the guilt of our sin is to confess it. Not bury it, minimize it, or rationalize it. We’re to “agree with” God about it. “It’s wrong. Please forgive me.” 

Would you dare to pray this prayer today and respond to the things God brings to mind?

“Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there be any hurtful way in me…”

Psalm 139:23-24 (NASB)

Text: Genesis 42-44

Originally recorded April 29, 2012, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN.