Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil”
Gen 50:19–20a
I often think of Gen 50:20, regarding the intentions of men and the superintending of God. But it was helpful to me to meditate upon the first part of v19 today: "Do not be afraid [of me]." The "of me" is implied, especially because of the rest of the sentence. "For, am I in the place of God?"
It was silly, and out of proportion, for the brothers were afraid of what Joseph might do to them. Joseph was not in a place to do to them according to what they actually deserved. But how often, when thinking about our situations, or even about our sins, are we more concerned about men than we are about God? We're often fearing the wrong ones (cf. Mt 10:28).
No comments:
Post a Comment