Anchored in Knowing:

There is one who will always be there and sticks closer than a brother.

Have you ever been let down by someone you trusted? Maybe a friend betrayed your confidence. Maybe a family member walked out when you needed them most. Maybe someone you believed in made a promise they never kept. If that is you right now, I want you to know something before we go any further, the hurt you feel is real, and it is okay to admit it. I know I have been there.

Joseph knew that feeling. If you have been around church for any length of time, you have probably heard the story of Joseph. But let me give you the quick version so we are all on the same page.

Joseph was one of twelve brothers. His father loved him deeply and gave him a special coat, a coat of many colors and his brothers could not stand it. Their jealousy grew so strong that one day they threw him into a pit and sold him to slave traders for twenty pieces of silver. His own brothers. The people who were supposed to have his back. They looked their father in the eye and lied to him, saying Joseph was dead.

From there, things did not get easier. Joseph ended up as a slave in Egypt, was falsely accused of a crime he did not commit, and was thrown into prison. Years passed. Real years. Not a bad week, years of sitting in a place he did not deserve to be because people had failed him.

If you are going through something painful right now because of what someone else did or did not do, Joseph gets it. And here is what I love about God, He did not skip over Joseph's pain in the Bible. He let us see it, and He let us sit in it for a moment, because God is not afraid of your hurt. He sees it, He knows it, and He has not forgotten us. People will judge us, make assumptions and even gossip about us. But there is a friend that sticks closer than any brother, any family member, or Christian; His name is Jesus.

From the Pit to the Palace — The Sovereignty of God

Fast forward to Genesis 50. Joseph's story has taken a dramatic turn. Through a series of events only God could orchestrate, Joseph is now second in command over all of Egypt. The same man who sat in a pit, the same man who sat in a prison cell, is now sitting in a palace.

His brothers, the very ones who sold him, come to him in desperation because there is a famine in the land. They are scared. They are sure that now Joseph has the power, he is going to make them pay for everything they did to him. And this is where we get to the most powerful verse in the whole story.

Genesis 50:20 says this, and I want you to really hear it....Joseph tells his brothers, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

Did you catch that? You meant evil against me — but God meant it for good.

Here is what that means for you and I.....God's plan is so much bigger than any person's ability to mess it up. When someone hurts you, they are not the last word on your story. God is. The people who betrayed Joseph thought they were ending his future. They were actually setting it in motion.

That is what we call God's sovereignty. It is a big word, but it simply means this — God is in control, even when it does not look like it. Even when it feels like your life is falling apart because of what someone else did, God has not lost the script. He is still writing your story, and He is writing it with purpose.

Joseph's Spiritual Power — Choosing to Forgive over becoming bitter

So here is the question I want you to think about OneLife FC church family. How did Joseph get to the place where he could stand in front of the brothers who destroyed his life and say, God meant it for good? How did he get there without bitterness eating him alive?

The answer is trust. Joseph made a choice, not once, but over and over again through the years, to trust that God had a plan, even when he could not see it.

Now I want to be honest with you because I think sometimes in church we make this sound too easy. Forgiving someone who hurt you is easy. Sometimes one of the hardest things we will ever do is forgive, however forgiveness is necessary. I also need you to understand what forgiveness is and what it is not. Forgiveness is not saying what someone did is okay. It is not pretending it did not happen. it is not even necessarily reconciling a relationship.

Forgiveness is walking in obedience to Gods commnad to forgive, it is releasing the debt. It is saying, I am not going to carry this anymore. I am going to hand it to God and trust Him to be the judge, because He is a much better judge than I am.

When Joseph chose to trust God's plan over his own pain, something powerful happened. He was free. His brothers were the ones in chains, chains of guilt and fear. But Joseph walked in freedom because he had already settled something in his heart. He had decided that God was bigger than what happened to him.

That is the secret. Trust does not mean the pain disappears overnight. But it means you stop letting the pain drive. You put God in the driver's seat and say, I believe You can turn this around. I believe You are working even in this. I believe You are good, even when people are not.

A Practical Next Step — Write It, Release It

watch this.....I do not want this to just be something you heard today and forgot by lunchtime. I want you to do something with this word. It is a right now word God has for all of us. So here is your practical next step, and it is simple.

Get a piece of paper, write down the name of one person who has hurt you, or situation causing pain from words spoken, lies told, or an action against you. Just one. You do not have to write down everything they did. Just their name.

Then underneath that name, I want you to write out or pray out loud this simple prayer. You can use your own words, but here is a starting point:

God, I release this hurt to You today. I trust that You are bigger than what happened to me, and I choose to let You handle what I cannot. Amen.

That is it, just that simple. act on it right now, but remember that one prayer is not the finish line, there is healing in the journey to forgiveness. Lets be real, sometimes some wounds take time to heal. But that one prayer is a powerful first step. It is you saying to God, I believe You, I trust You, and I am not going to let this person's actions determine the rest of my story.

You might need to pray that prayer every day for a week, or a month, or longer. That is okay. Every time the hurt rises up, you release it again. You/we are not weak for having to do it more than once.

Please listen....when we forgive, we are doing exactly what our faith in Christ looks like in real life one surrender at a time.

God Meant It for Good

Let me leave you with this today.

Joseph's brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And what God meant what God intended, always wins.

Our God is one who sees us in the pit. He is the one who stays with us in the prison, in the hurt, pain and suffering and He is the God who can take the worst thing that ever happened to us and transform it into the very thing that fulfills our purpose.

Our story is not over, your story can and will have a new beginning. Come on, people will let us down, walk away, betray us, abandon us, but oh my watch this....they did not write the ending of our story and they cannot control us!!!!

Allow God who has written the end of the story be the one in CHARGE. He really cares and is the one who STICKS CLOSER THAN A BROTHER, CLOSER THAN ANYONE ELSE. He is a really, really good author.

So continue this day, with this truth anchored in your heart, when people are used by the devil to carry out evil, and come against us, God can and will use for good and HIS GLORY. That is not just Joseph's story, this is our story too.

God is still writing our story, so today.....let us always trust the Author.

Pastor Phil

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24

Comments from readers

"Pastor Phil's insights through the Word of the Week have truly transformed my perspective on life's challenges. His simple yet profound words of encouragement help me make it through the day."

Emily Johnson

Springfield

"Recently I found your church website. I was amazed how the word was what I needed. I have been struggling with depression and even suicide the past year, but after reading the word for the week for the past month I know there is a God and he loves me. Thank you pastor Phil."

Sean Callagun

Port Douglas Australia

"Recently I read pastor Phils word for the week on not being alone. Pastor Phils word, impacted me at a time when I felt like ending my life. After losing my wife to cancer, I did not want to live anymore, but now I know God is with me no matter what I face, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I am never alone."

William

Greensboro NC

"Recently while going through a touch situation in my life, I was devastated at the impact it had on my life emotionally. I was at my "wits end". I read books, talked with people, sought counseling, but nothing worked. After reading the Words for the week the past few weeks, I sense a change in my life attitude and decision making processing. It is amazing what a few words can do to change your life."

Barbara

Greensboro NC

"Thank you pastor Phil for your word of the week. I have been reading them since I found your website while searching for a church. Although you are in North Carolina, the past two months have been a blessing because the word you have been posting on your website is something have looked forward to. It means. a lot and I wanted to say thank you."

Harold R.

Fort Worth Texas