Genesis 47: Willingness
Thursday, February 5, 2026
In Genesis 45:5-8 we hear the beautiful words of forgiveness which Joseph speaks to his brothers who colluded to exterminate him . . . do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me ahead of you . . . for you are a remnant on earth and to save your lives is an extraordinary deliverance. So it was not really you but God who had me come here . . . Joseph understands how God’s plan arrives at benefit for all through the suffering of some. He believes – because he has witnessed it in his own life – that God turns harm to good, envy to love. Today we reflect on his action of interceding with Pharaoh on behalf of his brothers who sold him into slavery. This is a message of willing obedience, open readiness, faith in goodness, hope in the outrageous, and love for the unlovable. It is a story of fidelity in its truest sense. Fidelity to God, to the remnant people, to self. Joseph lives up to his true potential, to God’s best hope for and in him.
I love this story of a joy-filled child who invokes envy in his siblings, of a handsome youth who innocently stirs lust in his mistress, of a young man who continues to believe in his God despite his apparent ill luck. I am moved by the willingness in which he lives. I am encouraged by the honesty with which he treats not only others but himself. I am inspired by the magnitude of his gestures, the purity of his thinking. Joseph carries no rancor. He is not bitter. He refuses to be discouraged. He rejects complicity and deception. He is cautious and prudent; yet giving and tender. Joseph is one of my favorite figures of Scripture. His story is a good one; and it is one to which we ought to refer when we find ourselves in endless turmoil or deep grief.
Joseph knows how to mourn. He knows that when he waits in God, goodness will follow on the heels of evil. He knows how to sacrifice in honest willingness.
Joseph knows how to keep his word. He knows how to abide in patient loving, just as God has abided with him. He knows how to wait for fruition and fulfillment.
Joseph knows how to celebrate. He knows that he cannot take credit for the goodness he experiences. He knows that humility conquers pride and that littleness is greatness, for he sees this in the actions of God in his own life.
Joseph knows how to praise God. He knows that even when success finally arrives, he must continue to follow God’s lead. He knows that all that he has and all that he is belong to God alone.
Joseph waits, he witnesses, and then he acts out of his own salvation. He allows his own conversion in God to convert others, and so in this way he allows his willingness to save more than himself. He helps to save the very people who would have seen his destruction.
We might want to sit with the story of Joseph for a bit today to ponder our own willingness to enter into God’s plan, to examine our own willingness to intercede with Pharaoh for those who would have eliminated us, but who have begun their own conversion.
A re-post from February 14, 2012.
Images from: https://www.meisterdrucke.us/fine-art-prints/Konstantin-Dmitrievich-Flavitsky/1422660/The-Selling-of-Joseph.html and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bourgeois_Joseph_recognized_by_his_brothers.jpg
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