SAINT HENRY (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here. 

When Joseph finally revealed his identity to his brothers, “his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him” (Genesis 45:2). And these Egyptian attendants weren’t even in the same room!

Why this excessive display of emotion? Joseph had already met with his brothers twice before without telling them who he was (Genesis 42:6-7; 43:15-16). But this time he just couldn’t contain himself. To the astonishment of his brothers, he says he is the younger brother they had tried to kill and subsequently sold to traders.

Joseph didn’t deny the pain of his past—the betrayal, the separation, the hardships of prison. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he sobbed so loudly. But he also didn’t allow these past events to control the future. He was able to recognize God’s hand at work: “Do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you” (Genesis 45:5). Then in one of the most touching scenes of reconciliation in the Old Testament, Joseph “kissed all his brothers and wept over them” (45:15).

Have you ever experienced one of these moments when you recognized that God had been using some painful moment to bring about an even greater good? Such “Aha!” moments don’t necessarily lessen our pain, but they do help us to see how faithful God is. We realize that he always had a good plan for our lives, even if we couldn’t see it at the time. And that leads us to trust him in a deeper way in all the events of our lives.

Unlike Joseph, we don’t always get to see how God is working through our trials—not even in retrospect. When this happens, we need to cling to the truth that God is good, and so he is always at work bringing some good out of our difficulties.

Jesus promises that when we finally see him face-to-face, we will all have our own “Aha!” moments. Then we will understand just how good and faithful our God is, and we will rejoice for all eternity!

“Father, help me to trust in your saving power, even in the midst of hardship.”

Genesis 44:18-21, 23-29; 45:1-5
Psalm 105:16-21
Matthew 10:7-15