God shapes you
by Pastor Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father (Genesis 44:33,34).
Read Genesis 44:18–34
Judah comes to talk to Joseph and tells the story so far. He speaks about how the brothers answered truthfully when asked about their father and brother. He reminded Joseph of the request to bring the youngest brother (Benjamin) back, or Joseph would not see them. Judah spoke of how much hurt and suffering his father would face losing his youngest son. ‘Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy’, he says.
What a change of heart we can hear in the words spoken by Judah. Especially now, to the point of not wanting to return to his father without Benjamin. The desperation in his voice. ‘How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.’
How good is our God? The brothers who laughed at Joseph’s dream and were jealous of him, selling him into a life of slavery, have changed. When they got rid of Joseph and told Jacob he had been killed by animals, their hearts were far from loving Joseph or their father. They didn’t even think of the suffering this lie would cause. Now, through the circumstances that have unfolded, things have changed. Judah now showed a deep love for his father, not wanting him to suffer. All this is under God’s plan and provision.
In all things, God is working in us, too. In all situations, he shapes our hearts and teaches us his way so that we may walk in his truth. Because God loves us and cares, he doesn’t want to destroy us; instead, he wants to rescue us. He has done this already by sending his only Son, Jesus, to suffer and die in our place so that we might live.
God is always changing our hearts through his word and what we face each day so that we are more and more like Jesus with a heart to love, serve and obey.
Gracious God, teach me your way by your word, so I may always walk in your truth. Teach me to love others and put the needs of others first. Shape my soul each day in your word and through the lessons you provide in my daily life so that I may love others and serve them for your glory. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in Redland Bay, Alberton and Woongoolba in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 8, 11 and 21, and he enjoys hiking with them, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets as a family and going on road trips. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
