Out of my hands
by Pastor Mark Gierus
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Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved (Genesis 43:13,14).
Read Genesis 43:1–15
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you think, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have done that’? Then, those around you say the same thing, ‘You really shouldn’t have done that’. Suddenly, a decision of the past comes back not only to haunt you but to hinder you significantly as well.
We pick up the events today with Joseph’s brothers, who have returned from Egypt after buying grain for their families. On the return journey, Rueben tells his brothers, ‘Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy Joseph? But you wouldn’t listen’.
The brothers brought grain back from Egypt but had to leave a brother in prison in Egypt and were told by Joseph – who they did not recognise – that if they didn’t bring back the youngest brother Benjamin, they would not see Joseph again nor have access to him or any further grain.
They are in a dilemma. Their decision to sell Joseph is coming back to make things more difficult. Not only have they had to leave a brother in Egypt, but now they must bring along their youngest brother, Benjamin, as they return for more grain.
In your own life, have you found yourself in situations where your own decisions from the past are now impacting the present? Have you had those times like the brothers where there doesn’t seem to be a way out of the situation?
But in all situations, remember that God works for the good of those who love him. Trusting in God in all things, like Jacob, the outcome is in God’s hands. Praying that God Almighty may give you mercy at the pointy end of that which you are facing, but also that his mercy, grace and love are with you in all things, day by day.
Lord, we often get things wrong. Remind us always that you are God, and you know all things. You sent Jesus, your only Son, to suffer and die for sin in my place so that I might have life and life to the fullest. Make my paths straight in the decisions that bring me to places where there seems to be no way out. Hold me close to you always, in Jesus’ name. 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.
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