Remember Me Not | Genesis 42 | Crossroads Daily

I like what he said. Trust the tester. That's good. Submit to the process, trust the tester, and Lord, what are you doing in this process? Instead of me wanting relief from the thing, Lord, what are you producing in me? And just getting on board with what God is doing, because it's good. Regardless of how it feels, you know, there's good on the other side of it, and he's with you in it. So trust the tester, man. This is the Crossroads Daily. No experts, no perfect people, just honest conversations about what happens when the Bible shows up in real life. Hey, I'm Chuck. I'm Debo. I'm Miko. I'm Peter. And we are in the story of Joseph, which is one of the really foundational stories in the Old Testament. And we're at the point where Joseph tests his brothers. He had this dream, his brothers hated him for it. They sent him away, imprisoned. He has a whole hellish experience, and now he's kind of on the other side of it. And literally, those brothers are bowing in front of him, like the dream said. But Joseph doesn't just jump right to, see, I told you, I told you. He tests them first. So question, have you ever tested someone in your life? And if so, how? I test people all the time. One of the things that I test is commitment based on time. So if I, somebody says, hey, I want to connect with you. And if we get together, you know, are they, do they show up? If they have a conflict, do they communicate that ahead of time? And if they're not respecting my time, that's not a person I'm probably going to re-engage with again. I'm looking at you, Miko, because like, we built our relationship that way, right? We built our relationship that way, right? And one of the things about you is like, man, you showed up. You showed up and it was great. And I mean, we have a friendship now because, like, I'm here now because you showed up, you know? And so not that I was going into it, like I got to test Miko, but I do think there's a part of me that tests like, hey, is this valuable to you? Because if I'm going to commit, I want to make sure it's valuable to you, too. Oh, I'm definitely evaluating if I'm the one who's initiated a meet up or a conversation or like a hangout or what. If I've initiated four times in a row and you have not messaged me back or you have not initiated one time, I'm like, you know what?

Maybe you failed this test. It is interesting to think about the times we almost like innately test people or test things, like almost waiting to see the response. Like, what are you going to do? Like, and it's interesting thinking about that, even in the story of Joseph. Like, I bet he was just like, I wonder what they're going to do in this. Like, you know, you're just waiting to see, like waiting to see a certain outcome or waiting to see what will happen. Yeah, I think having a two year old is probably where I find myself doing the most testing right now. Just more so just to kind of see like, you know, where is he, you know, developmentally, you know, just with things to see how he responds to things. Where is his comprehension? Where does he, you know, does he respond to my sternness? Does he recognize that this is OK? You know what I mean? What it is. So I don't know that's and I don't know how much that actually applies to this. But that's the thought that comes to mind when I'm thinking about testing, because that's that's day in and day out. That's real, man. That's real. Yeah. So let's talk about that. Why do you think Joseph tested his brothers? I actually did a deep dive on this, but I'm interested in what you guys. I'm like, yeah, why did he do this? So what do you think? Yeah, I think it's it's fascinating. I mean, one, I mean, they sold him into slavery and now he's confronted with them again. And he's like, and if I was in his shoes, I'd be like, I have the power of the Egyptian state at my disposal. They are executed immediately. Sure, you're like, you're not. Peter would have cut the whole thing short. You know? Yeah.

True to his name, man. Just cut it off, man. Joseph, to his credit, right? Yeah. He's not naive. He's not just going to open arms immediately because they could still be the same exact people that did that to him. That's right. Right. That's right. But he's like, I'm going to test and see. And OK, are these are they have they changed? Yes. Yes. You know? Yeah, I think I think you're right. I think that's why he tested. I you know, you can read this and like, oh, he's being a jerk to his brothers or he's exerting his power. I don't think you're right. He probably just killed him if he wasn't open to this. But there's something about that that I think reflects the heart of God. Do you guys think God tests people? Absolutely. All the time. Maybe we frame it as he gives us opportunities to demonstrate faithfulness. Yeah. But God is testing us all the time. So let's put ourselves in the shoes of Joseph's brothers. How do you think it felt to them to be tested? And remember, they didn't they didn't know it was Joseph at first. Right.

Yeah. So how do you think they were feeling or how do you feel when you're tested? I usually feel like it's a negative experience, like, oh, gosh, I'm you know, something this is a bad experience for me. Um. And so I'm imagining even Joseph's brothers like I've never actually thought about the perspective from their angle I've always looked at it through the lens of like Joseph because I'm like everything feels justified Everything that Joseph is doing is like I get it and so I've never actually thought about the brothers perspectives in this and like I Feel like they're probably like this is what we deserve We this testing is that it is a negative experience and this is what I deserve because of the sin that I've done Towards my brother that I think they didn't say that in one of the verses like one of them said this is this is us Being paid back for what we did to our brother and I'm thinking like it seems like they like it was um, I don't know They didn't arrive there immediately because I don't think that they initially even recognized it as a test I think initially it was just you know, they just they were coming hoping You know for relief like the rest of the world was and then to just be you know hit with these tests I think in that moment, I don't know. They weren't I don't think they were aware of the tests Which makes me think like I know as I've when I look back on maybe seasons when I did realize like, okay Is this a test leading up to that? It just felt like chaos. Yeah, it just felt like what in the world is going on So, you know, but yeah Yeah, I think how I respond to tests depends on how much I trust the tester Mm-hmm I think there's like an element of if I if this is someone a mentor someone I trust like some way Yeah, somebody's building into me God like okay. There's a level of trust there. I'm like, okay like I can embrace this challenge Versus if it's an unknown tester, which I think in the case of Joseph's brothers, they don't know who he is He's just some foreign tyrant to them. Who's like who's putting them through the ringer for no reason I like what like, you know, there's an element of that But then I think yeah, they were they were carrying so much conviction already for this past event Which that had not been resolved in them. They were still carrying that shame that Right, and so that immediately comes up as like all this must be Yeah, because this thing that is that that that stayed with them that whole time

Talk about carrying a weight for your whole life Joseph free eventually Joseph frees them which is like such a mercy. Yeah And I think that's a great point that you know when God tests us there's there's something good on the other side of that test Something that's always on the other side of the test is God's faithfulness, right? Like I mean think about it this this story is going to demonstrate in no uncertain terms To Joseph to his brothers and to his extended family the level of God's faithfulness Yeah, then over all of this difficulty Joseph puts it really well We're gonna get to that this week where he says all these things you meant for evil God meant for good And so I do think there's a a level of trusting the tester that God invites us into. Yeah So what would you I mean just as we wrap up? What would you say to someone who maybe feels like they're in a test right now? I like what he said trust the tester Good submit to the process trust the tester and Lord, what what what are you doing in this process instead of me wanting relief from the thing or what are you producing in me? And just getting on board with what God is doing because it's good Regardless of how it feels, you know, there's good on the other side of it and he's with you in it So trust the tester. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, I Mean, I think I'd also have to just have to say like not every tester is trustworthy in your life and it's okay to evaluate Okay, is this person putting me through the ringer or? Manipulating me in some way you can you can set some healthy boundaries You can you know, it's not not every tester and not every test is something that is maybe justified That's right. If it's God who's testing you absolutely trust trust the tester. Yeah Yeah, I think there's been seasons in my life when it comes to God that I have viewed him as not a good tester So it impacts the way that I move in my faith. And so I think for anybody that's listening that's maybe in that space of like Oh do what can I trust God the answer is yes Like you even said this earlier like at the end of every test God shows his faithfulness and even in ways that maybe you not expecting and so I know for me like there's been seasons I'm like, I know who he is he's good and I have to remind myself of that and these tests are a good thing and out of that like I get to experience his goodness in a different way and so

Yeah Maybe today you're experiencing a test. I love what you heard today man Trust the tester trust the process and know there's something good for you on the other side