Genesis 50:20 (and 21)

Joseph the Dreamer is one of my favorites from the Old Testament.
I like him for a lot of reasons. For one thing, the idea of  a coat of many colors always appealed to me.
I've also liked the fact that no matter what he came out ok. Actually, better than ok.
God was with him, wherever he was and whatever happened.
Joseph knew that. This he had a good attitude, the Bible reports.

David Jeremiah, who has written and preached a good deal on Joseph notes that he is one of only a handful of  folks in the Bible for whom there are is bad report. Dr. Jeremiah goes as far as calling Joseph a prototype of Christ. Certainly, though he lived man centuries before Jesus' birth, Joseph understood a good deal about the ways of God.

The verse set out here is an example of that. It, like the one who spoke it,  has long been a favorite of mine.

He spoke it to his brothers, who had sold him into slavery because they were jealous of him. He had come to power in Egypt and was in position to retaliate against them. Joseph opted instead to forgive them, recognizing that their mistreatment of him, through God's divine providence, had saved both he and the entire family from starvation during a famine.

That part I've understood since I was a child in Sunday School.

It's the next verse that only recently grabbed hold of me.

Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

God didn't just provide for Joseph and his family, He allowed Joseph, because he forgave them and recognized the miracle of God's provision, to actively participate in the plan. Joseph was able to nourish and comfort and speak kindly to his brothers and their children because of the excellent position he took. He'd had years to nurse bitterness and plot revenge. He certainly had cause and opportunity to respond in kind. At the very least he could have railed against them for the misery they perpetrated upon him. He did not. He took the high road. I need to take the lesson. If for no other reason than to please the Father and to allow myself to be similarly blessed by Him.