Genesis: Mercy Disguised as a Pit
“And now, do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here,
because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”
Genesis 45:5
Sometimes the mercy of God is disguised as a pit. Joseph appears to have been a spoiled child. His older brothers could take no more of his pampered prating and tossed Joseph into a pit. Soon a caravan of Ishmaelites neared and the boys had an idea. Another pit! Sold to these nomads, he was carted down to Egypt and put on the ‘auction block’. As if the pit of slavery was not deep enough, he next finds himself in prison. Finally, through divine intervention, he arrives at the prestigious post his brothers find him in when they come to Egypt, desperate for grain. His response to them is incredible for it’s demonstration of mercy not vengeance. That’s because Joseph realized that the pits of his life had really been evidence of God’s mercy. Had it not been for the pits he never would have landed in the palace.
You say you are in a pit right now? You never would have chosen this situation. You wonder why God has allowed you to fall into it. Stop. Consider Joseph’s life. Trust the providence of your God. Could it be that your hole in the ground is really God’s mercy, brilliantly disguised as a pit?
© 2004 Donald D. Reigstad