Heart check: Is my heart full of mercy or judgment? By Babs Kincaid

       It is easy for me to get complacent in my walk with Christ and believe my heart is a fountain of mercy. There is only one way to prove it! The word says it best: “Search me, Oh God, know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 Sometimes my lens for truth is rose colored and God’s lens is clear as crystal! Sometimes I think a lint brush will do the job to remove my current sin, but God suggests a snow plow to eliminate it! Be honest now, more often than not we do not see the full scope of our bad behavior! God nails it when he says: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind,” Jeremiah 17:9-10 Wow, so I prefer doing more frequent heart checks with God, so He doesn’t have to bring out the snow plows!

          Often my problem is a trust issue. I fall back into my old ways of trusting in my flesh. Here is God’s perspective: “Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD, for he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes,” Jeremiah 17:5-6A OUCH! Here is the good news: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD, for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will it cease from bearing fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 That a vivid picture of choices! I choose bearing fruit overbearing dust!

             In Genesis 37-42 we find the perfect example of brothers dealing with pride and jealousy resulting in judgment. Joseph was an outspoken teenager (17 years old) who exposed the bad behavior of his older brothers to his father Jacob. The four brothers in question were born from 2 of Jacobs concubines. Consequently, a family feud began. Because Jacob loved Joseph the most he made him a tunic of vibrant colors. “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.” Genesis 37:4   It wasn’t bad enough that Jacob had 4 wives, and 12 sons he had to single out Joseph with a bright and flashy coat!  Newsflash: Playing favorites only adds fire to any family conflict!

          To intensify family strife, Joseph told his brothers of 2 dreams he had in which he had supremacy over them and the sun, moon, and stars. The dreams included a visual of bowing down. Joseph’s older brothers were so enraged at his egotism they nicknamed him “the dreamer!”  Joseph’s “father rebuked him. Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” Genesis 37; 10

       Joseph’s brothers remained vigilant for the textbook opportunity to attack him.   Jacob being clueless that Joseph was on the hot seat with his older brothers, sent him out on a mission to check on them in another city. This was what Joseph’s brothers were waiting for so soon as they saw him they announced their plot: “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say. ‘Some wild beast has devoured him. We shall see what will become of his dreams!” Genesis 37:19b, 20 Wow, how vile their minds were! The oldest son Reuben objected to their act of murder but supported throwing his brother into a pit with no water. Big difference right? The truth is Reuben had planned to go back and rescue him. So the villain’s removed Joseph’s coat threw him into the pit and sat down to celebrate with a meal! Wow, that’s disgusting and pure evil! Judah later persuaded some of his brothers to make a profit from Joseph, so he was sold to Ishmaelite’s as a slave! Joseph begged his brothers to rescue him and they refused to show any mercy. Reuben was not on the scene when Joseph was sold. How low can some brothers go, right?

So now, their evil deed began to snowball with more wicked behavior!  The brothers had to lie to their father about his fake death. Jacob “refused to be comforted, and he said, “for I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning. Thus his father wept for him. ” Genesis 37:35b So the majority of Joseph’s older brothers became slaves to their sin. They let a petty offense spiral down from anger to hate to just short of murder and they broke their father’s, heart.

Joseph had battles that became victories for the next 13 years because “The Lord was with him…and made all he did prosper” Genesis 39:3. He was a slave in Egypt, overseer in Potiphar house, prisoner 2 years in Egypt and promoted to second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt. Joseph refused to “sin against God” Genesis 39:5, unlike his older brothers. He refused to have sex with Potiphar’s seducing wife and so falsely accused he went to prison. Even in prison “the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Genesis 39:21 Joseph had authority over all the prisoners. Joseph was asked to interpret a dreams of Pharaoh and he said: “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Genesis 41:16b Joseph advised  Pharaoh to save 1/5 of the harvests for 7 years so they would have food during 7 years of famine. Pharaoh promoted Joseph to the governor after he revealed his plan to save lives.

There was no welcome party when Joseph first saw his contemptible brothers after over 22 years. Jacob had sent his sons to buy grain in Egypt during the famine. They did not recognize Joseph. He was about to teach them a lesson or two. He called them spies and they deceitfully called themselves honest men! He put them in prison for three days. His brothers were afraid and in great distress. Joseph gave them challenges which made them fearful for their lives. They bowed before him as Joseph’s dream had predicted. Finally, mercy triumphs and Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. Joseph comforts them saying: “But now, do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life….And God sent me before you to preserve a prosperity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” Genesis 45:5,7 So the story has a happy ending because Joseph let God be God in his life by walking in mercy and faith! Joseph didn't want more drama in his family. He wanted deliverance from drama! 

The word says it best: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7  Since God has lavished so much mercy on me, I want to be more generous about giving it away!