Friday: Further Thought ~ Rest, Relationships and Healing
Further Thought:
“As Joseph was sold to the heathen by his own brothers, so Christ was sold to His bitterest enemies by one of His disciples. Joseph was falsely accused and thrust into prison because of his virtue; so Christ was despised and rejected because His righteous, self-denying life was a rebuke to sin; and though guilty of no wrong, He was condemned upon the testimony of false witnesses.
Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
And Joseph’s patience and meekness under injustice and oppression, his ready forgiveness and noble benevolence toward his unnatural brothers, represent the Saviour’s uncomplaining endurance of the malice and abuse of wicked men, and His forgiveness, not only of His murderers, but of all who have come to Him confessing their sins and seeking pardon.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 239, 240.
“Nothing can justify an unforgiving spirit. He who is unmerciful toward others shows that he himself is not a partaker of God’s pardoning grace. In God’s forgiveness the heart of the erring one is drawn close to the great heart of Infinite Love. The tide of divine compassion flows into the sinner’s soul, and from him to the souls of others. The tenderness and mercy that Christ has revealed in His own precious life will be seen in those who become sharers of His grace.” — Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 251.
Discussion Questions:
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One of the big themes in computer science when I was doing research was "resilience". The idea was that in the event of failure, a computer system could restart quickly and that its data would be consistent, if not complete. Most of us are used to personal computers and have probably had the inconvenience if not frustration of having a power failure just as you have completed a major task and were about to save it. Now-a-days most computers save incrementally as you work and typically now, when you turn the computer back on, very little work is lost. Imagine the catastrophic effect of having a banking system fail.
Most computer systems today are resilient because they implement things like uninterruptible power supplies, persistent operating systems, RAID storage, geographically separated networked computers and so on. We call these systems fault tolerant because in the event of a fault, they can recover. I could describe some of these in detail but most of us would lose interest at about the beginning of the second paragraph. Suffice it to say that a lot of work goes into making computer systems resilient.
Resilience is or should be a characteristic of our Christian experience. Like computer systems, humans have faults and in order to be resilient we have to have a fault tolerant spiritual experience. That fault tolerance includes the notion for forgiveness and where possible, reconciliation. (Please do not extrapolate my use of the word tolerance to mean tolerance for sin) We do not live in spiritual isolation. We have to interact with others and that is both a challenge and is also where we build our resilience. I mentioned earlier this week that a true test of our Christianity is our ability to rebuild relationships. I am not saying every relationship must be rebuilt. But, by reaching out to one another we can network with others and support one another.
Coming back to the computer illustration: One of the big issues in modern computers is their interconnectedness. Most computers in the world are connected to the Internet. The Internet is wild territory and we are acutely aware that there are those who seek to bring down major computer systems by injecting ransomware into them. You could say the best defence against ransomware is; don't connect to the Internet. In reality that is impossible these days for most real world computers. Owners of Internet connected computers go to extraordinary lengths to ensure cybersecurity. And its not a one off effort, either. They must be one step ahead of the hackers.
In a spiritual sense, there is an enemy at work seeking to use ransomware in our relationships with one another. I think you probably get the picture and I don't need to spell it out.
Paul spells out how to achieve spiritual resilience:
Phil included in his Wednesday comment something that truly resonated with me – may I quote:
“From a biblical perspective, forgiveness most broadly is being willing to help someone become disentangled from their destructive attitude, thoughts or behaviors to another. And that disentangling is for the purpose of fostering restoration and return to ‘rightness’ (i.e. righteousness) – as per Gal.5:1; Luke5:32; Romans 1:5.”
I see the power of forgiveness at work in the heart of everyone who wants to see his fellowman be healed; loving compassion is at its core.
Opinions, observations, comments to questions:
1. Unforgiveness has the potential to kill both persons.
2. I can only surmise that these plans gave everyone time to reflect on their part in these unfolding events. Each one had time to decide on how to address this very complex issue of sibling rivalry.
3. Any act of kindness experienced or observed serves to encourage to do likewise.
4. My heavenly Father knew that my heart was searching for HIS Truth, though I did not know. He took my hand into His firm hand as I walked through the brambles of my own choosing; to my surprise, it was always Him that I discovered waiting on the other side of my life's difficult patches. It appears that it took risking scratches and bruises to convince me that it was Him I was looking for all along; He is truely longsuffering and kind! 😊
I found myself meeting many seekers looking for answers along my journey of discovery, and deeply within my heart I know that I am a sinner saved by Grace!
Brigitte, I appreciate your insight, and on point one my Mother always told us that when we respond to unkindness with anger we are poisoning ourselves with bile and we should not give them that power over us, and I found this interesting point on the internet:
Hi Shirley - thanks for pointing out this valuable information about the effects of anger and resentment on the body. Is not 'indigestion' a scourge of society, its tell-tale sign of unforgiveness? Oh, if people would just come to the great Physican for healing!
'What was the purpose of all the elaborate plans Joseph went through prior to the disclosure of his identity? What did this do for him and for his brothers?'
1. Joseph was testing out his brothers to see if they were still the same as before, evil and wicked.
2. Can they be trusted with greater things in the kingdom.
3. Can he trust them now or will they bring disgrace to him as the leading man (Prime Minister) of Egypt.
4. He was trying to save them from the same jail he was in should they steal and get caught.
3.Joseph’s steward must have been in on some of the plots regarding Joseph’s brothers (e.g., Genesis 44:1-12). How does the experience of forgiveness affect those who are just observers?
Being an observer to forgiveness does not always change people. Sometimes people even gets worst. They think the innocent person are fools to let things go by and is hurting. The think why are you doing that and will say, that is you but this is me. I am not allowing no one to take my eyes out.
What are some of the key 'take-aways' you see from this week's exploration of forgiveness?
OR
Are there questions you have regarding forgiveness?
This week's lesson really spoke to me, but I am not free to share the details. I will say that I am praying for reconciliation in relationships and the lesson provided insights that I believe will aid in that reconciliation.
1. Being unforgiving will only bring disappointment, sorrow, and finally, regret(Matt 18:24-35).
2. God blesses the righteous with wisdom(Dan 2:21), and the results will always bless all who are involved if they will acknowledge the goodness of God.
3. Whatever glorifies God(Matt 5:16) will bring conviction to those who are observing, and blessings to those who believe(Ps 40:3).
4. This thought from “The Desire of Ages” quoted above, and the story of Joseph, have always been extremely encouraging to me.
What gems have I discovered this week? gifts!
The gift of forgiveness when I miss the mark of being like Jesus
The gift of the LORD taking responsibility for ensuring His justice is done to the offenders
The gift of a forgiving spirit
The gift of the fruit of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance
And best of all the gift of eternal life with the LORD