47 Days of Justice 2024 - Day 22: People with “a hole in their soul,” often try to fill it with others’ misery.

“So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭37:23-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Many years ago there were some people who were treating me badly. I had no idea why they seemed to take pleasure in the abusive behavior they dealt out to me. I couldn’t think of anything I had specifically done. It just seemed that they found who I am to be distasteful to them.

In a time of prayer I asked the Lord what I thought was a rhetorical question: “Why are they doing this to me?” To my surprise, the Lord quickly and clearly answered with this: “Some people try to fill the hole in their soul with the misery of others.”

Wow! What a revelation! I then thought back over all the years, all the bullies I have ever known who seemed to take pleasure in calling me names, wanting to hurt my feelings, who would even track me down to verbally assault me. Now it all made sense.

You see, miserable people try to make others miserable. Whoever said that “misery loves company,” was right. And, the top example of this being so, is Satan.

“Hell has a voracious appetite, and lust just never quits.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭27‬:‭20‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Of course, it doesn’t make the miserable feel better to victimize others. As we have noted before, it would be like trying to get rid of a hole in your backyard by digging it out; it only gets bigger. Even still, they try to muffle their misery with others’ sadness and distress, others’ misery.

Joseph’s brothers hated him for what he represented to them: He was the favored son; he was the one who never got in trouble. Somehow or another, to get rid of him, would be to “set things right” in their lives; it would “even the score.”

In today’s portion of Joseph’s story, we see him catching up with his brothers. He comes upon them, probably very tired from the journey of trying to find them. He was possibly even relieved to see them. But he is about to fall into their terrible plan.

It’s notable that the first thing the brothers did was to remove that beautiful coat, that symbol of the father’s favor, having now become the symbol of their misery. They throw him into a dry cistern, leaving him for dead.

Oh what inhumanity can be manifested when empty souls, now filled with evil intent, set their minds to “set things right.” Beloved, it ought not be so.

“You are still worldly [controlled by ordinary impulses, the sinful capacity]. For as long as there is jealousy and strife and discord among you, are you not unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]?”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:3‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#resolveforhim #47DaysOfJudgement