But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. - Genesis 45:5 NLT
Now, I might be able to forgive. I could hopefully love enough to welcome the siblings who sold me into slavery. But to tell them not to be angry with themselves is on another level. I think I could forgive the hurt and pain, but I at least would want there to be some inner turmoil for what they put me through.
How does Joseph do this? I think the answer is here:
This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt. - Genesis 45:6-8 NLT
Joseph finally understood the assignment:
1) To be used by God to preserve people
2) To show that we can have an incredible ability to forgive
3) To remind us of the importance of God's timing rather than our own
As hard as it is to believe or comprehend, when we are on assignment from God, we can forgive in miraculous ways. We can find peace in God's providential timing, and lastly, we can rejoice that He is using us to accomplish His purposes.