Don’t you hate injustice?  When I was very young in the Lord, I learned the term ‘righteously indignant.’

Psalm 7:11 God is a righteous judge, And a God who shows indignation every day. 

I considered it a noble anger.  Like Jesus in the temple upturning the tables.

Matt 21:12-17¹² And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³ And He said to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”

Also, like when He healed the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.

Mark 3:4-5  And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

As a parent, when you think one of your kids is treated unfairly, that ‘righteously indignant’ mode comes into play big time, although sometimes the righteous part may be questionable.  That’s where I was in this journal entry.

From the journal . . . . September 1997

Lord, my brain fights are not gracious.  I admit it but I’m so irate!  I’m righteously indignant! 

For whatever reason the story of Joseph and his brothers came to my mind. Maybe I had just studied it, but I don’t remember and I didn’t say in my journal. Maybe it was simply God who brought it up. Genesis 37 and 50.

Lord, they were all sons of Jacob!  They sold out their little brother, Joseph.  Reuben, the oldest, to his credit, talked the others into just throwing Joseph into a dried up well and not killing him. He left the brothers then but planned to return to rescue Joseph later.  However, as Judah saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming he said, “Let’s sell him and get money for him instead.  After all he is our brother, our own flesh.”  So they all agreed to let their father think Joseph had been killed by wild animals.  They added hypocrisy to their sin by offering comfort to their dad in the midst of their lies. 

Lord, these were Your chosen ones! They weren’t heathen, but they were jealous and they were hypocrites. They were terrible!

They treated Joseph in an unjustifiable manner, like I was feeling for my son. (My situation was in no way close to the Joseph story, but my feelings were my feelings.)

And God Said to Me:

Where was dad Jacob when this happened? Did Jacob stay with his (older) sons or go to find Joseph?

I didn’t understand this question but believed it was from God because it was so random from what I was thinking.

I responded, “He stayed with the other sons, but he didn’t know the truth about what happened to Joseph.”

Genesis 37:33-35 A vicious animal has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ So Jacob tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ Then all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

And if he had known and gone to rescue him?

He probably would have rescued him.  Of course, he’s the dad.

Then I believe God’s point to me was made.

If Jacob had gone and rescued his son, Joseph wouldn’t have lived the nightmare of a slave but been safe and secure at home with his father.  However, he also wouldn’t have become a powerful ruler in Egypt and eventually save the whole family of Israel.  Later Joseph said to his brothers concerning his tragic life, “What you meant for evil, God used for good so I could rescue the whole family.”

Gen 50:19-20  But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive. 

Lord, as I asked You what to do concerning my son, this is what transpired.  You are awesome! Thank You Lord.

As I started talking to the Lord on this day so many years ago, I was all riled up. I was righteously indignant and ready to go to battle for my son.  I obviously didn’t feel totally comfortable about doing that and brought it to the Lord. When I think about our child-raising days, the Lord very often would calm me down from some emotional upheaval so I wouldn’t take some action that I would later regret. I’m so grateful to the Lord for making Himself available to us through prayer, by His Holy Spirit, and the Word of God.