Finding Forgiveness Part 3: A New Perspective Genesis 45:5-8 Jan. 21, 2024 (Genesis 45:5-8) 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Betrayal Decision #1: When I have been betrayed, I can choose to allow myself to grieve. Betrayal Decision #2: When I have been betrayed, I can choose to have an honest and healing conversation. Betrayal Decision #3: When I have been betrayed, I can choose to look for the redeeming work of God. (Genesis 42:21) We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen… God did not design us to find healing on our own. (Hebrews 12:15) Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. We Help Each Other See Two Truths: (Genesis 50:20) You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 1. I cannot change what happened, but I can change how I view what happened. 2. When I change how I view my past, it changes how I live into the future.
(Genesis 15:13-16) 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” (Genesis 45:7) And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. God has this ability to bring beauty out of what looks like complete devastation, and He has done it time and time again. What looks like a curse from the perspective of us on earth, is what has the greatest potential to be a blessing from the perspective of Heaven. When we experience betrayal in life, God walks up and knocks on the door of our heart and asks us, “Will you let me use that for good?”