God of the Full Circle,
You waste nothing.
Not the pain.
Not the waiting.
Not even the betrayal.
The famine swept the land
but You were already ahead of it.
What looked like desperation
was really divine setup.
The brothers came hungry, desperate.
They bowed,
not knowing they were kneeling
before the very dream they tried to kill.
Lord, how often do You fulfill promises
in ways we never expected?
How often do You bring us back
to the place of our failure
so we can finally face it?
Joseph saw them.
He remembered their faces
older now,
but still carrying the weight
of what had been done.
And they didn’t recognize him.
Because time changes us.
Because pain shapes us.
Because redemption can look unrecognizable
when it’s wrapped in royal robes.
He spoke roughly
not out of cruelty,
but to test their hearts.
Lord, You sometimes do the same.
You shake us.
You probe our motives.
You stir up what we buried.
Not to punish us,
but to prepare us for grace.
The brothers confessed,
“We are honest men.”
But the past said otherwise.
Still Joseph didn’t seek revenge.
He wept in secret.
He longed to reveal himself,
but the time wasn’t yet.
Lord, give me a heart like Joseph’s
tender but wise,
truthful but merciful,
not eager to retaliate,
but patient in reconciliation.
He held Simeon.
He sent grain.
He hid silver in their sacks
a quiet kindness
they misunderstood as judgment.
God, how many of Your mercies
do I misread as threats?
You are kinder than I know,
more patient than I deserve.
You move slowly,
not because You are weak,
but because healing takes time.
And back home Jacob trembled.
The loss of Joseph still haunted him.
The fear of losing Benjamin nearly undid him.
Lord, sometimes obedience feels like
losing everything all over again.
But You are at work,
even in the tension,
even in the famine,
even in the waiting.
You are the God
who brings old sins to light
not to condemn us
but to redeem us.
So I offer You my famine,
my fear,
my former failures.
Bring it all full circle.
Let me be surprised by grace,
and bow before the very dreams
I once doubted.
In the name of Jesus,
who was rejected by His own
but now holds the keys to mercy
Amen.