Love Held Him

Now do not be grieved

or angry with yourselves,

because you sold me here,

for God sent me before you

to preserve life.

Genesis 45:5

The life of Joseph is the perfect commentary for Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

The heart of Joseph amazes me. He looked back on his life, and even looking on the actions of his brothers, he did not look back in hatred or bitterness, but with peace and confidence in the sovereignty of God.

Joseph’s heart was so much like the heart of Christ.

Jesus came to earth to be loved by some, hated by others, betrayed by His brethren, convicted of a crime He did not commit, hung on a cross to die, yet raised from the dead because death could not hold the sinless Jesus Christ.

David wrote in Psalm 37:25, “I have not seen the righteous forsaken.” Joseph believed God, and that belief was accredited to him as righteousness, just as it was his father, Abraham. God never did forsake Joseph. However, it was Jesus who cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.”

Oh precious one, He was forsaken so that those who trust in Him would never be forsaken. Let this truth resonate in your heart and in your mind. Let it sink into the depths of your soul. Our Creator God is holy. Sin will not be in His presence, and He will not look upon it.

When our sin was laid upon Jesus, in His holiness, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit had to turn their faces away from God the Son. Of all that Jesus experienced as the Word made flesh, this had to be the most painful moment. Yet, even in this, the risen Lord does not look at us with contempt because He was betrayed, mocked, forsaken, and slain. He looks at us with eyes filled with love that we cannot even begin to imagine or understand and says it had to be done this way so that we might live.

Joseph was sent to preserve life, and through his life we get a picture of the coming Christ; our Jesus, who would come not just to preserve earthly life, but to give eternal life. In John 11:25, Jesus is speaking to Martha after the death of her brother Lazarus and He says to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” Death could not hold Jesus Christ, and it cannot hold those who have trusted in Him.

The pain from hurts and betrayals by others did not control the heart of Christ, and they did not control the heart of Joseph. We have a choice to make in this life. We can choose to see all our hurts and pains as God against us, or we can choose to see that our hurts and pains are just this life and it is God that works in us to make even these glorious.

What will be your choice?

Oh Father,

How much I learn about the greatness of who You are just from the book of beginnings. You are sovereign, and Your plans will be accomplished. Your love for us is true and sure. Your grace abounds, and Your mercies never end. How I denied You and betrayed You by my actions. It was my sin that nailed You to the cross, yet it was Your great love for me that held You there until You cried, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit” (Luke 23:46). Oh Father, into Your hands I commit my life. My Father, that I might have a heart like Joseph, and when I am in the face of circumstances I don’t understand, may I trust in You and in Your love. May I trust that You are in control and You have a plan. I have no words adequate enough to express the praise and worship of You that swells in my heart when I think of all that You have done and are doing for me and in me. Worthy, worthy is the Lamb!

My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen.