Placing Blame

    When things aren't going right in your life, who do you blame? We live in a society that can't place blame quickly enough. It can't possibly be the actions of the individuals involved. It must be a faulty system of some sort, an environment that causes poor behaviors, or a person using some mind altering chemical. It can't be that people sin and sin causes consequences and those consequences are usually worse than ever imagined. 

    We seem averse to taking responsibility for our actions. It's almost looked upon as a weakness to apologize. Rather, we employ lawyers, mediators, and others to hid our guilt and shame, trying to convince all who will listen that we are in the right. Someone else has failed us, causes us to get that angry or jealous, and do things we know in our hearts we should not do. 

    I read Genesis 42 today and the "blame game" appears to go back thousands of years! You probably remember the jealous brothers of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob. Jacob gave Joseph, who he had with his wife Rachel, a "richly ornamented robe," but didn't do the same for his other sons he had with other wives. Parenting mistake number one, don't show favoritism. As a result of this favoritism, the other brothers planned to kill Joseph, but a few cooler heads prevailed and they sold him into slavery instead. 

    Do you think they knew that their behavior was wrong? Of course they did, but Joseph had had dreams that he shared with his brothers in which they "bowed down" to him (Gen. 37:5-9). Sibling mistake number one, don't brag and tell your siblings you are better than them presently or in the future. As a result of his dream sharing/bragging Joseph got put on the next slave caravan to Egypt. 

    Now in Genesis 42, the brother's need food and Jacob sends them to Egypt to get it from Pharaoh. But Pharaoh has put Joseph in charge of the grain silos and passing out food to starving wanderers. Joseph is now the governor of Egypt, don't you love how God can take the things meant to cause us harm and make them blessings, not just for us, but for others? (Joseph had devised a plan seven years earlier during the bountiful times in Egypt to save food for the seven years of famine God had warned the Pharaoh of in his dreams.)

    Joseph doesn't let on that he is their brother when they arrive and ask for food in Egypt, but guess what they do, they "bowed down to him with their faces to the ground," just as he had dreamt about years earlier. The consequences are coming for the brothers as well as Jacob in Genesis 42. Joseph "messes with them" by calling them spies, putting them in prison, asking for the youngest brother to be brought to him, and so the blame game began. "Reuben replied, 'Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen!'" (v. 22). Then, "Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, 'What is this that God has done to us?'" (v. 28). Finally, Jacob upset about the loss of yet another son said, "Everything is against me!" (v. 36). 

    The brothers and Jacob resorted to "I told you so," "God did this to us," and "Everything/everyone is against us," excuses rather than admitting their own responsibilities in the situation. Jacob's faults went clear back to marrying more than one wife, then favoring one son over the others and the brothers allowed their jealous to take action just like Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, did when God didn't look with favor on his offering (Genesis 4:5). God noticed his downcast face and asked Cain, "Why are you angry?" His decision to let his anger get the best of him led him to attack and kill his brother, Abel. The first recorded murder in the Bible. 

    Our emotions are not our final decision makers, we are! We can stop the train of destruction when we are feeling derailed by feelings of jealousy, anger, discontent, fear, self-pity, etc. If we give full reign to our emotions, we will have consequences that we can either own up to or blame others for. The longer we play the blame game, the longer we will have to deal with the consequences of our actions, sometimes for generations to come. It's not a new problem, but with God, we can quit playing the blame game and begin to reclaim our lives, our actions, our emotions, and our futures. Be wise and pray first, then release your emotions and situation to God. 

Proverbs 4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.