Handeling Our Enemies

Genesis 42:6-8

Imagine what it must have been like for Joseph to see his brothers for the first time since they sold him into slavery. All of the emotions and memories flooding back at one time. Have you, or do you have, someone in your life who has so terribly mistreated you that the very thought of them causes you to become sick to your stomach or overwhemingly angry. Joseph at this moment, because of the power he now has in Egypt, could have had all of them arrested and sentenced to death. He had the ability to repay them for all that they had before done to him. However, we find that revenge is not what God wants us to act on. Those who are really close to God's heart can't find it in them to make others "pay." They find a compassion within themselves that comes from the Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us in I John 1:7 that we are to walk in the light as He is in the light. In other words, we are called to walk or live as Christ lived on earth. Jesus once told his disciples to love the one's who hated them and to pray for those who used them. What a concept! To actually treat someone who has done us so much wrong as if they had blessed us! Now realize, you or I either one can do this in our own selves. We need the Holy Spirit working in us to accomplish this. Philippians 2:13 says, "it is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure." It is the Holy Spirit who must change the way we think and do things.
So, how did Joseph respond to seeing his brothers for the first time? The Bible says that he wept. After hiding his identity and putting them through a few things in order to get them to bring the whole family down to Egypt, he not only made sure that they were fed, but that they also had fields to raise their animals. He told them that he knew that they had meant evil for him, but that God had turned it out for good. He looked not at that one moment that caused his life to go on a downward spiral, but at the whole picture. The problem with most of us is that we tend to look at moments in our lives instead of the whole. God works in the whole. The Bible says that ALL things work out to the good. God takes all of the moments in our lives, both good and bad, and causes them to become a beautiful life. There are people in your life that you are avoiding because they have done you wrong. You do everything possible to forget that they exist, but Jesus came to rescue His enemies. We were at one time enemies to the love of God, but Jesus came while we were sinners, or enemies, to rescue us. Start praying for your enemies. Start looking for ways to reach out to them. Perhaps the Holy Spirit can use you to "feed" them the Bread of Life and see them give their hearts to the Lord.
Father God, I come to you this morning and I thank you for all of your blessings. I thank you that even though we could not get to church this morning, you have made ways for us to communicate and share the Word. I pray that you will help us to walk as you have walked. I pray that you will help us to deal with our enemies as you would and have. Give us the strength to be what you have called us to be. In Jesus name, Amen.