Tears of the Gospel

Understanding God's Invitation to Wholeness and Healing So our churches have been in a series for the year on crafted, and we've been really trying to understand what does it mean for God to not just be this distant theological figure who's playing chess with our lives, but that he's a loving father who desires to craft us in love so that we'd also be crafted to love. And if you've been joining with us, we start in the book of Ephesians really studying God's sovereignty that he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. But I think if we're honest with ourselves, sometimes our lives don't reflect the fullness and wholeness he invites us into. Yes, we know that God has chosen us, and yet we still feel shaped by our circumstances. We know we're loved, and yet we still chase validation. We know that God is sovereign, and yet we can't make sense of the twists and turns in our lives. Last week we took a break from the book of Ephesians to look through the life of Joseph. What does God's sovereignty look like day-to-day? How could this lead to actual healing? And I'll be the first to admit this morning that the language around inner healing or healing in general is quite foreign to me. I grew up in a immigrant family, and so this idea of being aware of what's going on inside and never happened, right? Like my dad was never like, hey, tell me how you're feeling today. Now it's everywhere, right? But this is the language that often is important for us to really understand. And you know, my journey of healing actually really began about 12 years ago when I first came to Radiance. I'm really grateful for Pastor Mark and Mira, who I think really opened my heart to really understanding how God invites us when he talks about salvation, when he talks about the forgiveness of sin, it's not just simply about salvation, but he's talking about inviting us into the abundant life of wholeness and fullness that is available to all of us as believers. And so that's why I would love for us to unpack. And this is actually a message that Pastor Mark has actually preached back at Radiance SFA while ago. And we wanted to use this, a series of messages through the life of Joseph to show what healing looks like. Now, why is that important? Let me kind of just set this up for us. We live in a culture of fast and easy. We can look up the website that, you know, Joe created within seconds. That's how we like to look at life. But if we're not careful, that's actually how we often look at even our journey of healing as well. We want something fast and easy. But God actually through the book of Jeremiah speaks the prophet warning the people there that there is a danger to this. This is what he writes in Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 14. They have healed the wounds of my people lightly, in other words, shallow, superficial, swiftly. They say peace, peace, but there is actual no peace. That word peace is actually from the Hebrew word Shalom. The word Shalom was about asking for God's wholeness and his fullness to be lived out in our lives. So there's a gap. There's a dissonance between our desire for healing versus actually the peace that we're experiencing in our lives. Maybe you feel that gap. Maybe, like me, you grew up in a household where language around healing was not common. In fact, it was actually dismissed. My prayer and hope is that as we look and continue through the life of Joseph, we may be able to unpack what God has in store for us. Amen. We're going to jump around in the lot. So we're going to cover Genesis chapters 141 to 45. So we're going to cover 5 chapters this morning. That's right. Y'all ready? I am ready for this. Let's let's dive in. Joseph's Coping: Forgetting Pain and Chasing Success Genesis chapter 41 verses 46 to 52. So we're going to pick up in our passage here. Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored great grain and great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he seized the measure it, for it could not be measured. Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asanath, the daughter of Potiphara, priest of own, bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the first born Manasseh. For he said, God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house. The name of the second son he called Ephraim. For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. So in where we're picking up in the story and life of Joseph, he is now 30 years old, and by God's favor he is ascended to the position second to Pharaoh in all of Egypt. It is a favour that we actually trace all over Joseph's life, starting, if you remember, in the royal official's house to all the way, even being in prison. He rose to prominence because of his ability to interpret dreams. And now, if you remember how the story goes, Pharaoh himself has a troubling dream. 2 dreams. One where 7 fat healthy cows are devoured by 7 skinny ugly cows, and then seven full ears of corn are destroyed by 7 withered stalks of corn. And so Pharaoh sets out this impossible task. Find someone in the land who can tell me my dream. And of course people are like, how can anybody tell you what you dreamed about? But not only that, he says, find someone who can also interpret my dream. To which Joseph says, no one can do this but God himself. And by God's favor and grace, we know that the story unfolds where Joseph is able to accurately interpret Pharaoh's dream. And out of his amazement, Pharaoh promotes Joseph as second in command. And what we pick up in our story this morning is, like many career minded people, it wasn't until much later, in his late 30s, is there actually a mention of his family or even his two children. You see, up until this narrative, there's very little mention of Joseph's inner turmoil. But now we're beginning to see that something has been brewing inside of him all along. And how do we see this? We see it how he names his own children in the names of his children, we see the glimpse of what's actually happening underneath Joseph this entire time. Joseph names his first son Manasseh, which literally means to forget. That is a horrible name for your first child, right? Parents or future parents in the room, do not name your children Manasseh because they're going to need a lot of healing later in their lives. And then he names his second son Ephraim, which means to succeed or be fruitful. Can you imagine the tension being to he and the brothers there, right? It seems safe to say that Joseph tried to deal with his pain, that he's holding on for so long in two ways. Forget the past and focus on success. Just forget what lies behind you and just keep plowing forward. Don't look back. I wonder how many of us might resonate with that type of coping technique. I remember even as someone considering what college to attend, do you know what was at the top of my priority list? Which school was the furthest away from home? Which? I went to school in Chicago and I lived in San Diego. Even when I moved to San Francisco, I thought to myself, I am never going to look back. In fact, I'm just going to think about the life ahead of me. You see, even unconsciously, we either try to forget the pain of our past, or we like to distract ourselves with ambition, busyness, success, or just trying to get to the next stage or season in life. And here's the thing, it works for a time. You see, pain, believe it or not, can be a great source of motivation. But if there's anything that we learned from the life of Joseph is that what stays hidden in our hearts eventually will make its way out of us. You say that one more time. What lays hidden and dormant in our hearts will eventually make its way out of us. And in the life of Joseph, we also see two things that are very clear and often that we might find in our own lives that as a father who desires for a wholeness, he will eventually lead us to revisit areas that might even invoke pain. Because there are two things that are true. This is what Pastor Mark actually said it. He said like this two things. One, forgetting is not equal to the healing power of forgiveness. 2 Having success and being functional does not equate to being whole. Why God Cares More About Our Healing Than Our Success Consider Joseph again. I mean, the guy isn't pretty functional. It felt successful. I mean, he's risen to prominence, second in command. The guy was sold to slavery. He was betrayed by his family. He thought he was going to die. But now he's second in command. This is the Cinderella story. This is the underdog story that we all would pay money to go watch in theaters. This is the story in our own lives, that someday God will take the things that we found painful and use them for our success. But you know what's interesting? When you look at the life of Joseph? You find a God who cares more about his wholeness and his healing than his success and his ability to function. We find a God who cares more about our healing and our restoration, so much so that we know that the Gospel says he entered into our reality to overcome sin and pain, the very things that sabotage our lives. You see, what we see is that the peace that Jeremiah talked about, the peace that we all long for, the fullness and healing that we're looking for in our lives, it doesn't come by going around our pain, by dismissing our pain, by distracting ourselves from our pain is actually to go through it. It's to actually walk through it, even if it means we have to confront memories and even address them as well. This is what we see in the life of Joseph. This is what we see all the way back in Genesis. I mean, this is a long time ago. They didn't have language around healing. They didn't have language around self-awareness. They didn't have language around therapy and counseling. And yet we see from even the beginning of time, God cares about our healing. Joseph's Tears of Remembrance and God's Invitation Read with me in Genesis chapter 42 verse 6 through 9. This is as we continue in our narrative. Now Joseph was a governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people the land. And now watch what happens. Joseph's brothers, the very brothers who sold them out, who sold him to slavery, who left him to die, Joseph's brothers come back into his life. Isn't that annoying? Have you guys ever experienced something like that when an annoying person who hurt you just comes back in your life? No, it's just me. I got a lot of those people in my life. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them. He's so funny. Joseph's kind of petty. He's still not there yet. Watch. And he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. Where do you come from? He said, they said from the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, you're spies. You have to come to see the naked. I mean, Joseph, he's he's kind of petty. I love it. It's so understandable because you see Joseph's dream that he had long ago are becoming true. The brothers are sent by their father, Jacob, to come to Joseph for food. And after all these years, dormant emotions, emotions and experiences that he had hidden away all of a sudden come back to surface. Joseph is triggered and his natural reaction is, understandably, anger. And his anger. He accuses them as spies, but we see that even in his best attempt to forget his past, his heart cannot lie. This is our reality. I found that even in relationships, especially the ones closest to me, I can be easily triggered and I often find that repressed emotions come out. They come on the surface as irrational or unwarranted reactions, but often times they come from unprocessed and unhealed experiences. Maybe you've experienced this. Maybe for the married couples in the room. Maybe your spouse says something very innocently and out of nowhere it's like blazing rage just comes out and the other in your spouse like what Where'd that come from? Or your parents say something or your friend says something or a loved one says something or something happens in your life. We're On the surface, it should only warrant a Level 3 reaction, but before you know it, you find yourself at a level 9 asking yourself what happened. You see, repressed anger or emotion can often come in the form of anxiety, insecurity, depression, and even ambition itself. Question is, how do we find healing then? How are we able to truly process the things that have happened in our lives so that they stop speaking and having authority in our present? And for that, what we find in the story of Joseph are actually three moments that are so clear. Moments where there's an emotional release through his tears, where he's able to find the healing, the inner healing that he's been looking for his whole life. Those three key moments are tears of remembrance, tears of loss, and tears of the gospel. Can we unpack that this morning? Let's go through these relatively quickly. Here we'll start tears of remembrance. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 42, verse 19, and we're going to continue in our passage here if you are honest men. So now Joseph is beginning to talk to his brothers. Let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me so your words will be verified and you shall not die. And they did so, and they said to one another, in truth, we are guilty concerning our brother and that we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us and we did not listen. The brothers are finally coming clean after so many decades. They're finally coming clean about what happened to Joseph. That is why this distress has come upon us. And the oldest brother, Reuben, answered them. Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes A reckoning for his blood. They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept, and we returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. Here, Joseph's desire is to actually be reunited with his youngest brother, Benjamin, who is actually his full brother, the one who is innocent with his betrayal. Joseph understandably wants little to do with the rest of his brothers. But then something unexpected happens. They come clean to him. They say, you know what? The reason why we're treated this way is retribution for what we did to our brother Joseph long time ago. In other words, even the brothers themselves have not forgotten that terrible day. Now I can only imagine what led Joseph to tears. All these years. He's been functional, he's been good, he's been successful, but in one moment he's taken back to his dreadful childhood. You see, that's the thing about painful memories. They tend to resurface and cause us to live those moments again. For those of us who are maybe experiencing that in our own lives. As you're getting ready for marriage, as you're even in a relationship, all of a sudden memories from your past, things that you've conveniently tucked away, are starting to resurface again. And there's a voice of condemnation that happens. Did you notice that you start asking yourself, why are these coming up? Why does this still affect me? I thought I was over this. And we begin to start questioning and condemn ourselves and we begin to wonder why is God allowing this to happen in my life again? To which Charles Kraft, the pioneer and ministry of inner healing, he says it like this. If a bone is broken and healed improperly, the only way for the bone to heal is to actually break it again. And as painful as it may be to relieve those areas in our lives, they must be broken so that they can be healed properly. Let me say like this, when painful memories resurface, it is not God's punishment. It is not God's wrath. It is not karma. It is not because you are a terrible person. Rather, it is His invitation to heal what was never properly healed in the 1st place. Thankfully, God has a lot of grace. It often comes up later in our lives, maybe for those of us who are still in school, you're starting to see glimpses of those, but often happens later because God knows he wants us to be spiritually, emotionally mature enough to be able to handle them. But you see, the thing about Joseph's story is it's not just about remembering the memories. It's not just about going through the pain. But for Joseph, it requires him to actually grieve the loss. It's not enough for him just to remember what happened to him, but actually the healing begins when he mourns what was taken from him. Joseph's Tears of Loss and Laying Blame And that's what we find. It's in these moments of grieving his tears of loss where Joseph's heart begins to soften. Let me show us. Genesis 4329 continues in our passage. And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son. Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out controlling himself. He said, serve the food. They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before him, the first born according to his birthright, and the youngest according to its youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. Portions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were married with him. Joseph is so happy. He's happy to see his beloved brother Benjamin again, so much so that he shows just this incredible favor to him. See, unlike his reaction to his brothers, there's so much compassion and warmth, meaning his heart is softened again. I think what's happening in this passage is God uses Benjamin to soften Joseph's heart once again. I wonder is as he's looking at his youngest son, Benjamin, he's remembering all the things that could have been, all the things that were lost or stolen from him, and rather than resentment and anger. Now you're beginning to see his tears of grief. Grief is a much deeper emotion than resentment. Grief is actually one step closer to forgiveness and healing. You know, there's a Jewish scholar by the name of Mayor Meyer Sternberg who comments that the subsequent test consists in turning back the Wheel of Time to the original crime against himself, with the circumstances reproduced and 10 range against Benjamin. In other words, what Joseph is starting to do is he's beginning to live that trauma again, but this time he places his son or his brother Benjamin as the favored 1. And here we see one of the most crucial steps of healing to know where to lay appropriate blame. Many victims of abuse and family trauma, we often what we tend to do is internalize the guilt and we try to blame ourselves. We say things to ourselves. Maybe I deserved it. Maybe it was my fault. Maybe it's because I wasn't good enough. Maybe if I were different, Maybe if I could think differently, Maybe if I looked differently, then this would have not happened. Here's what we see in Joseph. Yes, he was entitled. Yes, Joseph was a punk. The guy was such a punk, like he treated his brothers less than, but nothing could have deserved what he got. Can I pause there for a second? Let me slow down for a second here. There are things that happened to us that are that is not our fault. You see, until you lay blame where it belongs, you will continue to carry the shame that was never yours. Until you are willing to lay blame where it belongs, you will continue to carry the shame that was never yours. Simply put, unless you learn to forgive yourself, it'll be incredibly difficult to forgive others. You see the consequences of sin. It shows that there are things that happened to us that are outside of our control, whether we deserved it or not. What does this look like? You know, one of our favorite ministries for my wife and I is actually premarital counseling. And for those of us who are looking to get married, I, I, I really recommend you spend some time getting premarital counseling. You know, when we first started this ministry, our my focus was on looking at the tools and practices to help with conflict resolution and communication. But you're not realized over time. These tools and exercises, they're really helpful, but in the heat of the moment, you don't remember any of them. Married couples, you know what I'm talking about? Like, you know, your counselor says, OK, when you are heat in the moment, imagine and picture this and use this language, have this posture. And in that like safe counseling session, you're able to practice this so well. You feel like you're conquering. You know, you got it. But there are so many times on the drive back home, something gets triggered. And let me tell you, you don't remember anything. You don't remember any of those tools, You don't remember any of those practices. You're not thinking, OK, I'm going to picture a green pasture. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. No, that is not what you're thinking. All you think is I am right, she is wrong. I am always right, She is always wrong. What happens in our time of counseling in the ministry, what I think what we've learned is actually the most powerful thing. It's actually a a term that we picked up from one of our marriage ministers. It says that what is most powerful in a couple is to actually learn the back stories behind our stories. That so much of our triggers, what seem like unwarranted reactions, they actually stem from a back story that is older than just that moment. That when we react, it's because there is a back story that is much older than that moment. A back story that we've kept hidden. And in those back stories we have seen so often in our sessions, memories of parents unintentionally making comments that take a hold of someone's self worth, the death and absence of loved ones, a parent walking out on his family, a child being neglected, or even in some cases, a child being called an accident. And seeing how these backstories end up having a greater voice in our present. Here's the incredible news. The narrative of Joseph shows a God who cares deeply about our backstories, who does not want us to dismiss them, who does not want us to just forget them, who does not want us to just distract ourselves with busyness and ambition. Rather, a God who wants to walk us through them, who walks with us through them. And what's incredible is in this last Test that Joseph has for his brothers, this one last Test where he intentionally places his silver cup so that he can accuse Benjamin of stealing and to hold Benjamin back and wreak havoc on the lives of his brothers, The unthinkable happens. The most remarkable thing happens in all of Joseph's story, where we finally begin to see the healing power of the gospel at work in the most unexpected way. It's crazy. You guys ready to see that? Judah's Sacrifice and Joseph's Tears of the Gospel Let's turn to Genesis 44, this last part of our passage that we'll cover this morning. This is what it writes. So imagine with me. Joseph has secretly planted his silver cup in the bag of Benjamin so that he can accuse Benjamin and put Benjamin into prison, which would wreak havoc in the lives of their other brothers. This is how we pick up in the narrative. Now. Therefore, as soon as I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us, then as his life is bound up in the boy's life, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. They're talking about Benjamin here, right? So the brothers are pleading on for Joseph. Joseph, Joseph, please, please if you take Benjamin, our father Jacob will surely die for your servant and your servants will down bring down the Gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Shoal. Verse 32 For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father saying, if I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life. Now therefore, now this is Judah speaking. Are you guys remember Judah? Judah is the one that sold his brother. It was Judah's idea to sell Joseph to slavery. It was Judah's idea to make money off of his own brother's life. Watch what Judah says. It is close my mind every time I write this. This is what he write, reads in verse 33. Now therefore Judah says, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my Lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father. Watch what happens to Joseph. Joseph upon hearing this could not control himself because all those who stood by him, he cried, make everyone go out from here. So no one stayed with him. When Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the House of the Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? But his brothers cannot answer him, for their dismayed at his presence. This is the turning point in the story. This is where hurt and bitterness for decades begin to give way to healing and forgiveness. And it happens in the most unexpected way possible. Look at who God uses to bring healing to Joseph. Out of all the brothers is Judah. Judah says to Joseph, please let your servant remain and serve the boy. Judah offers his life in place of Benjamin, and in that moment something breaks inside of Joseph. The brother who once sacrificed him is not willing to sacrifice himself. This is what breaks Joseph out of his cycle of pain in her as he witnesses the power of the gospel transforming his brother Judah. Is this not the clearest echo of the gospel? Is this not the power of the gospel at work? Judah finds redemption and Joseph finds healing, a power that is actually made available to us, a power in which we can experience, that softens our hearts so that we can experience the healing and redemption we're looking in our lives. A Five-Step Guide to Experiencing Inner Healing So to give us some maybe practical thought, there's a very practical way that actually outlines how inner healing often unfolds in our lives. It starts with these five steps. One, identify an ongoing behavioral, emotional, or even mental pattern of sin. For Joseph, it was laid hidden, but as his brothers calm, we recognize that there is actually quite a bit that Joseph has still been holding on to. Two, seek to discover the root cause of that sin. If it is a defensive reaction against a past event, get in touch with the pain. But it's not just simply about just getting in touch with the pain, but knowing it's an invitation. Three, find a way to express the pain freely. For Joseph, grief was important to grieve what was lost. Inner healing is always about actually release. 4 Forgive the one who hurt you. This does not excuse the offender, but it's releasing the person's power over you. It's saying that what they have done, the words they may have spoken intentionally or unintentionally, no longer have power over you. 5 Ask Jesus. Just as Judah show the gospel of transformation, the power of the gospel in his life. Ask Jesus to manifest himself in that exact hurtful event and heal you. Ask yourself, what does the gospel say over you in the words that were spoken out of lies, out of anger, out of pain, even for themselves? What does Jesus say over who you truly are and say that over yourself? Paul writes it like this in Ephesians 432. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. You know what's incredible is that when you think about Judah, Joseph was able to experience the love of Christ. And what blows my mind is do you remember what tribe or where Jesus is called the lion of what lion of Judah? Out of all of the tribes to mention Judah, the one who sold his brother into slavery where later we find Judah's family is a complete mess. I mean if you knew Judah's story, the guy mistakenly sleeps with his own daughter-in-law. Why would Jesus ever want to be identified with a person like that? Because he came to save and heal not only the Joseph's of this world, but also the Judas. You see, when you understand that forgiveness starts to make sense. It becomes easier to forgive when you realize the very person who hurt you needs just as much saving and healing as you do. This is not in any way to excuse what they did, but it's to see them also a recipient of God's grace. Finding Healing and Forgiveness for Both Josephs and Judahs And as I wrap up our time here this morning, you know, I was trying to think of a moment where I experienced this in my own life. And, you know, maybe this is a silly example, but growing up, there was a turning point in my relationship with my own older sister. You know, growing up, she was, in my mind, the favorite child. She did everything right. She was actively like, getting part of being in clubs, studying because she wanted to go to a good school. You know, I just wanted to be the kid that wanted to have fun, right? Any younger siblings in the room that resonate with me, Thank you. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you older siblings. I forgive you. I'm just kidding. But you know, my sister and I, we, we didn't get along very well. So much to the point that even like our youth group at the time knew the animosity we had. Like there was a retreat that they actually prayed over our relationship to pray that God's healing forgiveness will come right. And I remember one night everything changed. It was a night that I got caught by my parents for doing something really dumb and I had crossed the line with them that I've never crossed. And I've never seen so much anger and disappointment in my entire life. I was scared to death thinking my life would be over. And I was hiding upstairs in my room and I was and I heard my sister downstairs talking with them. I was overhearing them and I, my first thought was, Dang, she's going to sell me out. She's going to throw me under the bus. I thought she was going to make things worse that she can be so she can look better. And then I start overhearing what she was saying. And my parents just, they were livid. And I just overheard my sister pleading on my behalf. Can you just understand what he's going through? Something along the lines of, he has so much pressure. Can you just once just not go crazy? And I was like, I started with bawling. I don't know if it was like years of like resentment towards my sister or something, but I was like, to me, like that was a glimpse of what Christ has done on my behalf. You know, I'm reminded of what Paul says in Romans 520 where sin increased, grace increased all the more, or even what Jesus says in Luke 747 when he talks about this woman who has sinned so much, He says this. She has been forgiven much, he says, but he who is forgiven little loves little. You see Jesus who intentionally sits with sinners, people who are so broken, and walks with them through their pain to show that, brothers and sisters, we have a God who longs for our healing and wholeness. I don't know where you are in your journey. I'm going to invite the worship team up. I don't know if you're just starting to see like the tip of the iceberg of some of the things that are just starting to unravel in your life. Maybe you're seeing it in the way that you process things. Maybe you see it in your reactions and relationships. Whatever it may be, I want to encourage you this morning, this is not a condemnation to say you are messed up, you are broken, but it's an invitation to see that God. He is a God who longs to bring healing to those areas. If you're willing to invite him, if you're willing to go down, it's a painful journey. But let me tell you right now, it's a journey that's worth it. Your future spouse, your children, even your friends will thank you for it. Can we just take a moment this morning as we wrap up our time here? You know something that I I just kept telling our church last Sunday was to begin the process of healing is to trust in a Father who cares for you. To believe that he wants to bring healing even to the very places we have hidden away is to trust in a Father who loves you dearly. So as the worship team sings the song over us this morning, would you see a Father who longs to bring healing to your soul? That you don't have to feel condemned, but that a Father who is faithful to you. Father, we come before you this morning. Holy Spirit, we invite you in this place. You are our counsellor. Apart from you there can be no healing. So even in this moment, right now, wherever we may be, as memories come to mind, as experiences come to mind, help us to trust in you as a Father who loves us deeply. So as we sing this song, which is soft in our hearts like you did Joseph, and begin to bring the deep transformational work of healing in our lives. Jesus name name.