They hurt me. The people I trusted most.

Joseph's brothers threw him in a pit, sold him, and lied about it for decades. And when he had every right to destroy them, he wept and said 'God meant it for good.' Forgiveness doesn't mean what they did was okay. It means you trust that God can redeem even what they ruined.

The conversation

The child: “Daddy God... they hurt me. The people I trusted most.”

God: “I saw everything they did. I was there in the pit with you.”

The child: “Then why didn't You stop them?”

God: “I didn't stop the brothers. But I never stopped working.”

The child: “They don't even know how much damage they caused.”

God: “Joseph thought the same thing. And then I brought them right to his door.”

The child: “But how did Joseph forgive them? After all that?”

God: “He cried first. Seven times he hid and wept before he spoke.”

The child: “I don't feel ready to forgive.”

God: “Neither did he. Forgiveness isn't a feeling. It's choosing to let Me hold the debt.”

The child: “But they don't deserve it.”

God: “No one does. That's what makes it grace.”

The child: “What if I forgive and they do it again?”

God: “Forgiveness sets you free. Boundaries keep you safe. You can do both.”

The child: “I'm scared that if I let go of the anger, I'll have nothing left.”

God: “What you'll have is room. Room for something new.”

The child: “Okay. I'm not ready yet, but I want to be.”

God: “That's exactly where Joseph started.”

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." Genesis 50:20, KJV