Don’t Feed the Monster!

“And now, do not be distressed and 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

So how do you guard your heart from rejection?

Some people believe the best way is to never trust anyone again.

That would prove to be a very lonely response and not one characteristic of a believer.

Certainly, a more effective response, and one of the first ones we must make, is to choose to move on in life; not allowing our walk with God to be paralyzed over what has happened.

It’s essential to move on if we’re to be of any use to God.

And, it’s not a choice God will make for us.

It’s up to you and me.

Joseph recognized this.

That is why he could counsel his brothers as he did in our verse today.

Sometimes we may think God waves a magic wand over us and the pain and hurt of rejection is no longer with us.

Instead, it is a deliberate choice we must make.

Not just once but every time the resentment or desire for retaliation and revenge begins to well up in us.

The more we are committed to making that good choice and the more often we do it, then the strength of the temptation to seek our own vengeance dissipates and the desire to see God’s purposes fulfilled grows in us.

In other words, don’t feed the monster!