Confronting Change

Read Genesis 42.

What Joseph put behind him in chapter 41 was now remembered.  He was confronted with reconciling the past.  His own pain was relived again because it was unresolved.  Do not miss verse 9: "And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them."  God did not change His mind about Joseph, nor His plans for Joseph's life.  He changed Joseph in order to use him.

Joseph was the leader so he led his brothers through a process.  Though they thought him to be an Egyptian, he tipped his hand a bit when he told them he feared God.

After all these years the brothers were confronted with their unresolved sin against Joseph.  They felt guilt and the real sense that God was holding them accountable.

As the father, God was also at work in confronting Jacob's character.  He thought he had lost three of his sons and dropped into a deep depression.  "All this has come against me."  He could not see beyond his own loss.  He could not see God's Hand moving.  He did not want to even move or make long term decisions.  That is, until they ran out of food and they could no longer feed their family.  So, the plot thickens and sets up the next chapter.

No one likes change, unless it is their own idea.  Dr. John Maxwell teaches that there are three times when a person will make changes:
...when they hurt bad enough they have to
...when they know enough so they can
...when they want bad enough they will