“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 45:4-8)  Our Old Testament lesson this week offers us the first of the two times in which Joseph confronts his brothers.  What is crucial for us is the way in which he does so.  This brother was terribly wronged by them.  This brother has now risen to absolute power over them.  And, this brother now chooses to see them in terms of God and thus forgive them.  A great shift has occurred since he was placed in the pit.  Now he holds the upper hand.  But a far greater shift has occurred in that Joseph has become willing to see his brothers in terms of what God is doing.  They did something truly malicious, but God has used that awful act to accomplish the remarkable.  Christ calls us to forgive, but he never calls us to ignore either the harm done to us or the harm that we have done to others.  Instead, he offers us the gracious invitation to behold the way in which he makes “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).  As we allow him to wipe away the tears from our eyes, we may begin to see that he is “making all things new” (Revelation 21:4-5). Is our Lord offering you a new way to perceive your past this week?  Is Jesus inviting you to see, as Joseph saw and therefore granting you the power to forgive?  Have a great week!