Someone said there are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who ask, “What just happened?” Which group are you in? Do you have a plan? If we fail to plan, we plan to fail.
Possessing a plan, Joseph was the kind of person who made things happen. First, he asked his servants to put the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. Then, Joseph tested his brothers. When Benjamin was accused of crime, would they abandon him or advocate for him? This would show Joseph whether his brothers had changed since they sold him into slavery. The brothers passed the test. Instead of letting Benjamin be taken away, they all loaded their donkeys and returned.
Judah had promised his father that he would protect Benjamin. Fulfilling his promise to Israel, he spoke up and said they were all slaves of Joseph. In one final test, Joseph told them they could all go and leave Benjamin with him. Of all twelve brothers, Judah and Joseph would play the most important roles in the future of Israel. Remember Judah had suggested selling Joseph into slavery (37:26-27). Now Judah negotiated to save Benjamin’s life from slavery. He had changed.
God has a plan to transform each of us. He loves us as we are. In fact, God loves us too much to leave us as we are. His counterintuitive plan when we sinned was for Jesus to take our punishment for us on the cross. Jesus became the substitutionary sacrifice for all our sin. Are we willing to receive God’s gift of eternal life? God will make it happen. Let’s follow his plan of salvation. Jesus never fails!
