GROUNDLESS FEARS

MEMORY VERSE: Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them (Genesis 50:21).

Joseph's brothers were afraid. And there seemed to be good reason for their anxiety. They had conspired to do away with their brother because they were jealous of him. Having sold him into slavery, they thought they were through with him. But God had protected Joseph and had elevated him to great power in Egypt. Speaking to his brothers, Joseph explained it well: But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (Genesis 50:20).

This good news was related to Joseph's brothers while they were kneeling before him seeking forgiveness. They had expected judgment and instead received grace. They must have lived through this scene a thousand times on the way to Egypt, each time characterized by some variation of expected revenge. Perhaps Joseph would devise some means of paying them back for their meanness that would cost them their freedom or their families. He had seemed forgiving, but how could they be sure of his true feelings? The miles to Egypt must have been long, and the mileage rolled up on their bodies and emotional systems immense. That journey may have found them in imaginary Egyptian jails, serving as slaves for the rest of their lives, or experiencing some punishment practiced in Egypt that was unknown to them.

Now they were being told to stop being afraid. They would be treated kindly and both they and their children would be nourished by the one they had wronged. Their worries and fears were in vain.

Too often, like Joseph's brothers, we stew over imaginary fears. Our Lord will nourish and care for His own!