Identifying with Joseph

Joseph in his "coat of many colors." Check out other Lego images from his story @ www.thebricktestament.com.

Do you remember Joseph from the Old Testament? He's the one we learned about in Sunday School when we were little...we wore crayons down recreating his coat of many colors. That Joseph. The account we have of his life describes how he was his father's favorite son and how this caused reasonable jealousy among his brothers. Those brothers' jealousy turned to anger, and they plotted evil against Joseph. Eventually, they took their younger brother into the wilderness to kill him, but decided to sell him into slavery instead. Through a strange turn of events (also known as God's will), Joseph came into great fortune in Egypt in spite of his low status. Through an even stranger series of events, Joseph was given the opportunity to save the lives of the very brothers of his who had, all those years before, planned his murder. That's the story in a nutshell...here's how it relates to me. I yearn to redeem the hurts of my siblings' hearts. This is not to say I identify with being the favorite child, or being hated by my siblings, or that I was ever sold into slavery in some desert place! That ain't my story! I identify with being broken by my father's mistakes...and bearing the heavy burden of my siblings' brokenness. I want us all healed...redeemed...and I am looking to Joseph's amazing story for hope that one day we all will be.