13 - "The Worst Thing Is Never the Last Thing" Genesis 37-39

#17 - The worst thing is never the last thing. So, hold in your heart what God has already promised.  Genesis 37:5                                                                                                     

No words.

And it all starts with a dream that God gives Joseph in Gen 37:5 —- a dream to hold onto. A prospect of hope that he will not be imprisoned forever. None of us will be in our circumstance forever. Then, Joseph waits for word from his father to join his brothers, at the right time.  He readily waits for his command to go.  Do we?  And then what happens...no words for it.  His very own brothers throw Joseph into a pit to perish while they sit down to eat bread together.  That one sin of theirs turns into multiple as they attempt to coerce, hide, manipulate, lie, steal, murder.  One sin teaches them they must conceal it again and again through their whole lives---for they don't change.  They go on ruling their own lives. Joseph goes through unthinkable troubles over decades because of that one sin.  Yet.  Joseph moved through troubles by righteous living, letting Christ reign over a prison.  May Christ reign in our lives today, no matter the circumstances.

The brothers all sat down to eat bread together while their abandoned brother begged for help from the bottom of a waterless cistern.  The brothers shared their water with each other---but how could they trust each other?  Only Ruben showed a morsel of guilt with an intent to go back after-a-while and rescue the tossed away Joseph.  And Ruben was the oldest of the clan---the one with the most reason for revenge, the number one child.  Israel loved his son Joseph way too much---is there such a thing?  Did Israel love well?

"Loved more than the other sons." Genesis 37:3

PHOTO:  A dream to hold in your heart, kids, for a very long time…then…

Nothingness. A pit. A prison. Betrayed by his own brothers. Separated from his father. This won't happen to you. You will be supported by your brothers and sisters. Tell them how much that love means to you. And I tell you that my love for each of you in this photo is more than words can say, my little darlings.