Blind To Blessings

“And he said, Peace [be] to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.” (Ge 43:23 AV)

Joseph's brethren returned to Egypt to buy more corn.  They mentioned that when they returned home the first time; they realized their money remained in their sacks.  So, they brought double the second time.  Joseph’s answer to their concern was the God of Jacob had blessed them.  Joseph’s brothers were so fraught with guilt over selling Joseph into slavery that they could not see when the LORD was being kind to them.  The kindness of God was seen with suspicion.  I can empathize with these men.  Sometimes we see the events of our lives solely through the lens of our failures.  We have tunnel vision and doubt God’s willingness to forgive.  Every event, whether good or bad, is seen through the context of chastening.  We think we have committed the unforgiveable sin and have put ourselves in a position where God’s blessings will never come.  That is truly a sad place to be.

Don’t get me wrong.  These eleven men were right to be concerned.  They didn’t know the context of how this came to pass.  They remembered paying the price for the corn.  The servants of Joseph returned their money in their sacks.  Perhaps they simply did not understand the process.  Maybe they were supposed to go to the second window after picking up their load and pay the price.  So, the money was returned with the intent for them to pay somewhere else.  Who knows?  Whatever they were thinking, they could not think it was a blessing from God.  They immediately saw it as God’s judgment.  They brought back twice as much the second time.  They brought money to pay for the first purchase, plus money for the second.  That was the right thing to do.  If they could not account for why their money was found in their sacks, it was prudent to assume they still owed the money.  What they failed to do is to entertain that the error wasn’t an error.  They failed to entertain that God might have blessed them.  It was still right to try to return the money.  No one told them it was a gift from God.  Where they failed is where we fail.  It is right to try to make things right.  But the conscience will not allow us to entertain that perhaps the LORD was good to us.

Now, it would not have been right for these eleven to presume upon God’s grace.  To assume God had blessed them and not bring the first price back would not have been ethical.  In other words, there needs to be a balance.  They needed to attempt to repay, but they should have also entertained the possibility of God’s grace.  Forgiveness was a tough thing for these eleven to accept.  When Jacob died, even though Joseph repeatedly told them they were forgiven, were terrified thinking Joseph would exact his revenge.  They thought the only reason Joseph was kind to them was because Jacob was still alive.  Accepting the grace and forgiveness of God is a hard thing.  Our guilty conscience will not allow it.  But we must.  Unless we do, we will miss God’s blessings along life’s journey.  The eleven never truly emotionally reconciled with Joseph.  They condemned themselves greater than God, Jacob, or Joseph ever could have.  That is really too bad.  One wonders how many blessings from God we have missed because we simply cannot come to where we accept God’s forgiveness and mercy.