Joseph Sold By His Brothers Prayer

Lord, Your Word tells how Joseph's brothers stripped him of his coat, threw him in a pit, and sat down to eat. They had lunch while their brother cried out from the dark. That casual cruelty shocks me every time I read it slowly.

Lord, the cruelty of family is sometimes the deepest cruelty. Joseph was young and proud about his dreams, but he did not deserve the years of slavery and prison that followed. He did not earn that suffering.

Yet the same story ends with You working through the betrayal. You used it to rescue two nations from famine. Genesis 50:20 says what they meant for evil, You meant for good.

Father, the betrayals I have suffered have been smaller than Joseph's. Use them as You used his. Do not waste them. Work in me the same readiness, at the long end of the story, to forgive what was meant for harm and to bless what You intend for good.

Amen.