unloved

This morning, I read one of the saddest things so far this year, and it was part of my devotions. Genesis 37:3-4 reads, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.”

This passage makes me feel bad for Joseph, because I can’t imagine what it was like to be loved by Dad but hated by the rest of the family. But, honestly, I feel worse for the brothers. To know that your own father considered you second or third or even twelfth best – that’s the kind of thing that permanently scars people. I know several grown men who are still trying to win the approval of their fathers. No wonder Israel’s sons did such destructive things!

I’m reminded of how important it is for parents to make their children feel loved. There are a lot of important things moms and dads do – teach life skills, coach good citizenship, model a strong faith – but make them feel completely loved may the be most important. If love isn’t found at home, where will kids find it? And where will they find the self-confidence not to try to buy love with favors?

It makes me grateful that God is a better father than that. God’s love is perfect and complete and never-ending, and sufficient for any bad thing I confront. God’s love is even enough to overcome the sub-standard loving that many kids get at home. 

At the end of my rumination, I just want to love all the kids, and do what I can to protect them from that feeling we all get once in a while that no one loves us. I wish I could make sure that no child would ever feel worth less than their peers.

But I need to remember that, even though  Israel’s imperfect love would lead to abusive behavior, plots of murder, and the human trafficking of Joseph, God would work good from it, in one of the most epic stories in the whole Bible. This sad story will take a lot of tragic twists and turns, but it has one the best happy endings ever.

Because the bottom lines, that’s one of God’s main things – happy endings for anyone who puts his or her faith in Jesus. God’s love does that, not mine or any human being’s.