This week as I read the story of Joseph in Genesis, I seemed to realize the depths of the wounds in his life. We have all experienced woundedness in our lives. Some of the deepest hurts and wounds can come from family members. Family can be a source of great support, compassion and healing. Which we see in the life of Joseph with his father Jacob and his brother Benjamin. Family can also be one of the sources of our deepest pain and hurt. We see this with Joseph’s other brothers. Genesis 37:4 NLT “But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.” Their hatred for him, grew and festered, so much that they desired to kill him. He is sent to check on them in a distant place as they cared for Jacob’s, his fathers, sheep. They stripped him of the precious coat his father gave him. They threw him in a cistern to die and then decided to sell him as a slave to some traders that came by on their way to Egypt. They sold their brother for twenty pieces of silver equivalent to a few hundred dollars today and for a low price as a slave in Biblical times. In Egypt, he faces slavery and imprisonment, God’s hand is upon him. Joseph is humble and knows the power of God and the character of God. He trusts God. This can be seen when he is called before Pharoah to interpret a dream in Genesis 41:15 & 16 “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

“It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

Joseph is also a man filled with the spirit of God, note Genesis 41:38 &39 NLT “So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning as you are! Joseph is made ruler next to Pharoah. He is exalted and given a wife. God is bringing restoration. Signs of healing are beginning to take place with the birth of his two sons. Genesis 41:51,52 NLT “Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.” Yes, this had been a place of deep grieving and suffering for Joseph.

My dear friend you may have experienced deep woundedness, these scriptures about Joseph knowing God’s character, remaining faithful to God, remaining humble, trusting God, being filled with the Spirit of God, speaks to us today in our woundedness. With deep hurt often comes doubt and deception. Doubt in God, His power, His faithfulness, His love, His deliverance, His redemption, His restoration, His strength, and His answers. We are often deceived to draw away and no longer trust Him or to turn from Him completely. This is the time when we need God most, and the enemy desires to take from us our relationship with our Heavenly Father. In the midst, of all your woundedness, suffering and grief draw close to God and remain faithful. Trust Him for Healing!

From the Heart,

Phyllis