Live Wire…

Restorative Love

As I continue the journey into the life of Jacob and his sons, I keep finding myself back at the bottom of that well. I can only imagine how many times Joseph must have found his thoughts back there, as well.

How many times did he wonder what might have been, had his brothers not betrayed him the way they did? For that matter, how many times did Jacob go back over the suspicious disappearance of his favored son? I wondered about this when I read the part where Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain during the famine. He withheld Benjamin from going with the others, and the scriptures seem to only allude to his concerns for the safety of his only other son by Rachael.

I sort of think that Jacob realized the animosity present between his sons from the rivaling wives. Maybe he knew deep down in his gut that his own sons had something to do with things, back when he sent Joseph to check up on them that fateful day.

Then there is Reuben to consider… he had to live with the secret knowledge of what had happened for all those years, saying not a word. I bet he most certainly spent a good amount of his time wondering what might have been, had he tried to go to his father with the truth.

To even consider how or why Joseph was able to possess such all encompassing grace and mercy for the very ones that sought to end his life, one must look within themselves and their own pebbles cast. How many times have I looked back on my own ripples in life, wondering what might have been had I chosen a different path?

Trust me, I have thought on this many times, and I always end up at the same answer. I am not willing to risk sacrificing any of the good in my life, by altering or removing a past choice or mistake. It’s not worth it! Who I am is the result of all that came before, and I love the me God sees! I believe maybe this was true for Jacob, as well as any soul living with consequence. That means all of us, if you were wondering.

The ripples playing out in my pond, are the very things that give fuel to my empathy, my passion to share love, and my efforts to heal others. This has only happened because God interceded on my behalf, and has begun using every hurt for His good purpose. My heart tells me that this kind of restorative love, is by divine nature alone! Most deeply cast stones can only be retrieved by One who carries All authority! As you may know, the One who does the retrieving, also does not erase the ripple, but instead changes the end result… in my humble opinion.

Another thing I understand about ripples… some we cause ourselves, and some are caused by no fault of our own. I cannot say what went through Josephs’ mind and heart, as I am just speculating. Whatever he might have thought, I believe that Joseph didn’t choose his situation, nor did he do anything to apparently deserve what was done to him. He did however, make a decision as to how he would respond to what he was experiencing. This spirit of humility and forgiveness, however Joseph acquired it, was apparent throughout the entire story, as he grew to be the man God planned.

At the moment, I am right at the part of the story where Joseph has been testing his brothers before revealing his identity. I laugh at myself for coming up with the hairbrained idea of reading through the whole bible again from start to finish… It has been nearly a month now, and I am still in Genesis… lol. I am going to be in study til I am called home… hey, wait… that’s a win win in my playbook. What do you think?

“Jesus Does” by We the Kingdom, should capture the heart of Gods Restorative Love for us this morning before we chow down https://youtu.be/baz5tuV7X2Q?si=TVYt-w76asTReofd

Ok, so strap on your feed bags and dive in…