Feb 05 36 Repentance The foundation of faith
36_Repentance_the_foundation_of_faith Gen 41 56 -42:3 When the famine was spread over the entire face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth. Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 2 Then he said, “Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. Repentance lies at the very heart of our faith journey. D. L. Moody once observed, "Man is born turning his back on God. When he truly repents, he turns completely and faces God." Repentance is not merely feeling sorry for what we have done. It is a complete change of heart and mind towards God. God, in His boundless wisdom, often disrupts the comfortable status quo in our lives to draw our attention to sin and disobedience. In the story of Joseph, we see this divine disruption vividly. Genesis 42 recounts how famine forced “all the people of the earth” to Egypt to buy grain. This included Joseph’s brothers, who, however, encountered unexpected obstacles, unlike others. The difficulties we face are often God’s way of calling us to remember unconfessed sins. As his brothers approached Egypt, none could have imagined that they would face the brother they betrayed years ago. But God, in His sovereignty, brings our buried sins to light. Proverbs 28:13 declares, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” The brothers claimed to be honest men, yet their past was a litany of lies, betrayal, and hard-heartedness. They deceived their father, sold their brother into slavery, and showed callous disregard for God’s moral laws. Their sins were not just isolated acts—they revealed a deeper condition of the heart. Joseph’s actions apparently disrupted the wellbeing of his brothers. However, he was not driven by a desire for vengeance. His goal was to lead his brothers to repentance and thus to restore the relationship. Otherwise, he could have thrown Potiphar and his wife into prison, punished the butler for his neglect, or condemned his brothers to prison for life. We often fail to recognize our own sinfulness until God mercifully breaks our hardened hearts. Only when we see ourselves as we really are do we thirst for his grace. The Lord’s dealings with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 mirror this process. She eagerly responded to his offer of living water, saying, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty.” But he did not immediately respond by telling her he was the Messiah. He addressed the deeper issue: “Go and call your husband.” He gently but firmly exposed her hidden history. Before forgiveness