Healing Leads to the Palace
Over these past few weeks, we have been on a journey with Joseph from being at his peak as a favored son, to the pit, to Potiphar’s house and to the prison. Our last stop with Joseph is at the palace. While in prison, he needed someone to remember him and help him. Instead of being bitter, Joseph gave the help he desperately needed and interpreted Pharaoh’s dream with precision. Having stewarded well his time and his gifts in every season, Joseph was promoted to the palace as second in command to Pharaoh. He had power, money, prestige, chariots and even married the daughter of one of the priests.
In a wild turn of events, Joseph’s brothers—unbeknownst to them—had to come before Joseph to request food. Joseph now had an opportunity to gloat and point out that his dream of everyone bowing down to him had come true. He also could have punished his brothers for what they had done. However, Joseph did something that impacted history. He forgave his brothers. Joseph really had to be healed from anger, hurt and bitterness to forgive his brothers for throwing him into a pit and separating him from his family for decades.
Most people think Joseph’s greatest success was making it to the palace. However, I believe that Joseph’s greatest triumph was stewarding his healing—through forgiveness—and leaving a lasting legacy.
As a lawyer, I won awards and cases, but was denied a promotion to our office’s most esteemed litigation team—the homicide team. I never received an explanation why I was denied, and I must admit, I was a little bitter about it. When I became a judge, the lawyer who denied me the promotion appeared before me. I had the opportunity to rub it in—you know, remind them that ‘I’ was the judge, or be nasty when I made my rulings. However, I chose forgiveness. That meant that I had to confront what had happened and choose healing. I didn’t forget what had happened, but I was able to treat all parties fairly, because I was no longer hurt or bitter by what had happened. I think because of that, I was a distinguished and sought after jurist on both sides of the aisle. I am proud of my legacy as a judge.
Presiding Action
Think about a time when someone hurt you or even betrayed your trust. Are you holding on to it? Are you bitter about it? One way to know is if you can recite all of the details on command. If you can, you are still holding on to it. You must acknowledge that you are hurt, angry or bitter. You must accept what was done and choose to forgive. Healing will only come after you make a decision to forgive. It is said that unforgiveness is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die. Unforgiveness only hurts you and takes up the space needed to receive all the goodness God has for you. Once you forgive and receive healing, you will free yourself and create room to receive God’s abundance.
