Faith in Forgiveness

“So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.” (Ge 50:17 AV)

The words above were spoken to Joseph by his brethren upon the death of their father, Jacob.  They were afraid that once Jacob had passed, Joseph would take occasion to exact justice upon them.  They were afraid that with the immense power he now had, Joseph would seek revenge.  This is why Joseph weeps.  He weeps because his brothers never truly trusted in the forgiveness Joseph offered decades ago.  He weeps because he realizes the relationship they shared since coming to Egypt was not as deep as he assumed.  He weeps because his brethren were still tormented by what they did almost a century ago.  He weeps because his brethren were trapped in a state of assumed unforgiveness and never totally free from guilt and shame.  He weeps because his brethren suffered needlessly as a result of unbelief.  He weeps because they never trusted in the fact they were forgiven.  Totally, completely, and without condition.  Forgiven.

One particular state in which I lived conducts their traffic violations in an interesting way.  I had gotten in an accident that was my fault.  Failure to stop when I should have resulted in an unfortunate situation.  In speaking with the police, he was a bit apologetic that he had to write a ticket.  The person in front of me slammed on her breaks and left me no other option.  He felt bad but had to write a ticket.  In this particular state, the seize your physical license unto you arrive in court.  It encourages violators to show up at their court date.  So, for about a month I drove on that ticket.  The ticket was my driver’s license until the matter was cleared.  The day came.  I showed up.  My case continued to get moved later and later on the docket.  It was the last case called.  There were no witnesses to testify.  The other driver never came.  The issuing officer never came.  So, the Judge had no other option but to dismiss the ticket.  I handed him the ticket and his clerk handed me my license.  All I had to pay was a court fee.  Having driven on the strength of a ticket for several weeks, I was a bit hesitant to assume my case was closed.  I asked the judge several questions to have the assurance needed to drive with a clear conscience.  I was forgiven, but it seemed too easy.  It took a while for me to be confident this summons wasn’t going to turn around and bite me sometime down the road.

We live in fear because we cannot, or will not, trust the fact that we are forgiven.  This does not mean God removes all consequences.  This is a separate matter.  But when the LORD says that He has forgiven us and cast our sins in the deepest ocean, or that our sins are as far from us as the east is from the west, or, if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgives us all our transgressions, we need to trust what the word of God says.  I cannot but think Joseph’s example here might be what the LORD goes through when we do not trust in His forgiveness.  I wonder if He weeps.  I wonder if His heart breaks as we are in a prison of our own making, wherein we repeatedly torture ourselves over decisions of the past.  I wonder if He weeps because we cower in the corner away from a God whom we cannot believe would forgive us for such infractions.  He must.  He must weep when He sees His children running from Him when there is no need.  It must break His heart if we assume that He is vindictive and will not forgive.  This must break God’s heart.  Trust in His forgiveness.  If He tells us He forgives, that should be sufficient for the day.  Trust in His forgiveness.  It brings liberty to the soul.