Always the Victim?
August 17, 2008
Bible Reading: God has made me fruitful in this land of my suffering.” Genesis 41:52
Bonus Readings: Genesis 37:5-10; 50:15-21; Deuteronomy 4:29-31; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
If Joseph were alive today, he could be the poster boy for victimization. He was abused by dishonorable brothers, who even sold him to traveling slave-traders! They took him to Egypt as a young man, robbing him of the joys of his youth. Rather than choosing to fall into a pit of self-pity, however, Joseph continued to honor his God and proved a very valuable slave, but when he refused to sleep with his master’s wife, she lied about him and had him tossed into prison! Still, he continued to be honorable before God and was a helpful part of the prison community even though the inmates he helped by his action and attitude forgot about him after they regained their freedom, leaving him to languish. It was all so unjust. Yet Joseph never saw himself as a victim. His faithfulness before God drew him the benefit of God’s blessing, and he eventually became the equivalent of Egypt’s prime minister.
Victimization has become in vogue in our society. We insist that we have been deeply hurt by our families, our supervisors, and our culture, saying words like, “I deserve better than I have gotten.” Maybe that’s true. Yet it really doesn’t matter what we deserve. What matters is how we respond to our hurt. We can settle into a deep anger that yields only bitterness and unforgiveness that will evaporate the marrow of our lives and block our ability to be heard in God’s courts when we pray. Or we can choose, instead, to look for the ways in which God is molding our lives, even through injustice.
Ultimately, our God cares a lot more about our character than our accomplishments. When he was young, Joseph had great dreams but little humility. After his release from jail, he was a different man. That’s because he believed God could use even evil for good. That required his choice. The other choice—victimization—is a choice to waste our suffering.
Contemplative Prayer: Holy Spirit, please show me how I choose: to blame others for my hurts or to benefit from them.
Think about it: You have granted me many blessings; now let me also accept what is hard from your hand. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German pastor & theologian)
All love in the Beloved,
Chip+
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