WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: We have a Saviour who is able to sympathise with our sorrows and grief (Isaiah 53:3,4). Meditate on some of the ways Jesus knew sadness and emotional pain while he was here on earth. Years of suffering Joseph isn’t the only one in this story who has endured years of suffering. The loss of his favourite son has cast a long shadow over Jacob (v 36). To think about losing Benjamin, the only other son of Rachel, is more than he could bear; the sorrow of such an event would kill him (v 38). The brothers, on the other hand, have lived all these years with the knowledge that they did this to their father. It was their deeds that brought him so much sadness and so many years of grieving. Living with guilt Perhaps verse 28 shows again that they still feel the guilt and live in fear of divine retribution for what they did. To prevent the family from starving they have to put their own lives and families (vs 19,33; see also 43:8) on the line. They are all surely beginning to feel that, as Jacob articulates, ‘everything is against me’ (v 36). Respond: Are you, or is someone you know, dealing with grief and sorrow? Take time today to pray, bringing yours or your friend’s grief to God and receiving his peace and comfort. Maybe find a friend who can support you as you continue to do this over the coming weeks and months. http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-10-16