When Providence Speaks

Dear lovely people,

Conscience is the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wrong. Conscience is of importance because, if we pause and listen to our conscience we often get answers for the questions which troubled us. Answers based on conscience are generally ethical.

Crisis of conscience develops when it becomes very difficult to decide what the right thing to do is. When you start to worry because you think you have consciously or unconsciously done something unfair or morally wrong, you know you are facing a crisis of conscience. When there is a crisis of conscience, the individual fear that his action may be against the voice of conscience and hence ethically wrong.

Sounds like what some people in power dabble with almost on a daily basis especially when power gets them so drunk they are plunged into an ethical dilemma vis-a-vis the governed right. You find them energized each time situations subject the masses to undeserved suffering. Joseph’s experience in the Bible has much to teach us today and comforts the masses with regards to the obvious end. Read on…

Providence seems to be a spiritual law of nature wherein good is rewarded and evil punished in a perfect system of divine justice. Joseph through his life and predicaments demonstrated that the lives of people and nations are under the control of a caring God. Indeed, the theme of God's guiding hand underlies the entire story. When Joseph is lost he meets someone who knows exactly where his brothers are (Gen. 37:15). The trading caravans happen to be going down to Egypt (Gen. 37:25, 28). The Lord is with Joseph in Potiphar's house (Gen. 39:2) and in prison (Gen. 39:21 f.). God's name comes readily to Joseph's lips at critical moments: when he confronts Potiphar's wife (Gen. 39:9); when he interprets dreams (Gen. 40:8; 41:16 ff.); and when he tests his brothers (Gen. 42:18). Joseph gives the ultimate interpretation of events at the dramatic conclusion: "God has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival on earth, and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance. So, it was not you who sent me here, but God" (Gen. 45:7-8).

When Joseph says, "although you intended me harm, God intended it for good" (Gen. 50:20), he is not simply arguing that God can transform wicked actions to bring about some gracious end. He is saying more than that. He is arguing that although you sold me, from the beginning it was really God who sent me here (Gen. 45:5, 8). The tension remains as to how the brothers' wickedness and God's intentions work together. Although harmonization of these ideas may be humanly impossible, the divine intention is what should be the focus. Only that can enable reconciliation.

Joseph descends into Egypt as a powerless slave and eventually ascends to freedom and power. The Joseph story starts a chain of events that leads to the Israelite captivity in Egypt and their eventual freedom and empowerment at Mount Sinai. This paradigm of oppression and redemption, which is the central motif of biblical theology, flows naturally from the Israelite idea of divine providence. It is a karmic universal law of gravitational reversal: What goes down, must come up. Darkness will always give way to light. God will always redeem the oppressed.

Certainly, in any conflict, both parties must admit wrong for their own misdeeds, and must struggle to feel remorse for the harm they caused, without rationalizations or justifications. Each party should empathize with the victimization of the other, a lesson Joseph taught his brothers in prison (Gen. 42:21). Yet each party should show compassion towards the other, as they expect it for themselves. Acceptance of mutual responsibility does not, however, mean admission of equal guilt. Joseph's crimes were far less severe than those of his brothers.

Probably the most powerful element in conflict resolution, however, is the belief in divine providence. The Joseph story shows that it is possible to frame past evil within a paradigm of a divine plan. The belief in Providence allows Joseph and his family to transform the way in which they deal with suffering and those who caused it: "Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good" (Gen. 50:20). Providence is part of a perfect divine plan for our lives. Despite their evil intentions, those who caused our suffering were agents of God's will. Providence not only has the power to provide inspiration and hope to those who suffer, it actually can redeem suffering.

Once Joseph realized the part his brothers played in God's plan, he forgave them. It is said that not to forgive imprisons one in the past and yields control to another, whereas forgiveness frees the forgiver and allows one to change the circumstances of one's life. This was certainly true for Joseph, who was not consumed by anger and desire for vengeance.

From the viewpoint of divine providence, some of our mistakes are not simply crimes awaiting punishment. They are lessons to be learned. God prefers repentance and human moral and spiritual growth to punishment. If we change ourselves, we can change our future and transform how we view the past. But are we then simply actors on a divine stage, unaware of the roles we are playing? This is an ancient paradox: "All is foreseen (by God), but freedom of choice is given."