unscripted

when joseph's brothers 

came to egypt the first time. . .

 

God didn't send him a text 

or a memo 

or even a dream 

to warn him,

"today 

those 10 guys 

who wanted to kill you 20 years ago 

are going to show up."

 

he swore (more than once) 

"by the life of pharoah" 

what he was going to do to them.

he was serious.

 

they had wanted to kill him

for no good reason;

he would have been justified

if he wanted to kill them.

 

they had caused him to be a slave for over 20 years;

in justice, he could have enslaved them all.

 

instead, he told them 

that their situation couldn't be resolved 

unless one brought back their brother.

 

then he imprisoned them. . .

for three (short) days.

after which he summoned them.

 

and he said to them,

"do this, 

because i fear God. . ."

 

and i am just so relieved

to see that God put him in a position

where he

was forced

to react instinctively,

and he didn't know immediately how to react.

it was a li'l messy.

yes.  

it was.

but he took the time he needed

and focused on God,

and because he did that,

his response was much more lenient 

than what he had initially decided.

 

God didn't give him a chance to prepare his script 

for what we would read about him, 

oh, thousands of years later.

 

what he did 

is what God wanted to showcase.

and in the end, he was speaking kindly to them,

and comforting them,

and showing us all 

that even though they hated him 

and intended to do evil against him,

God all along had been planning 

for the good of all of them.