Fix Your Environment

Dysfunctional families began long before you and I were even born … it started way back in the first book of the Bible in Genesis. The meaning of Genesis is, the origin or the beginning of something. It’s the time when life began on earth in the Bible. I asked myself why was the story of Joseph and his brothers recorded in Book One of the 66 Books of the Bible? Certainly it was not by chance.

Hello! There are no perfect families … 

Families are living with trust issues, abuse (physical, sexual, emotional), secrets, denials, lies, lack of boundaries, lack of empathy, lack of respect, and lack of loyalty  … all or any of these make the home a dysfunctional home. When the environment is unhealthy, the people in the home are affected … the children by extension think that it’s normal way of living and they grow up and there’s another dysfunctional generation in the making.

Dysfunctional families lashes out at each other and blame flows like a broken pipeline. The stress level rises like a volcano waiting to erupt at any given moment.   

Genesis 45 gives us a detailed account of Joseph now a grown man meeting his brothers for the first time since they sold him at 17 years to passing merchants who then re-sells him as servant in Egypt a faraway place from his home.

The Bible says that when Joseph the dreamer (nickname his brothers gave to him) saw his brothers he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly that everyone in the kingdom heard him. He made himself known to them … and HE WEPT and SOBBED ALOUD. Why did the Bible say, ‘he wept and sobbed aloud’? I’m guessing it is the POWER of FORGIVENESS. Forgiveness is so powerful and effective…it makes you weep with relief.

Joseph once again says to his surprised brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” What a painful question to ask because you are not sure you are ready for the answer in case the answer is ‘no’. His brothers are scared for their lives thinking that Joseph will now seek revenge for the pain they had caused him, so their response is delayed.

Dreams don’t die, they turn into reality when you change your environment. Joseph had dreams of what his future will look like from a youth but he was in the wrong environment ( trust issues, abuse, secrets, denials, lack of love, lack of empathy etc).

But when God is with you, He gives you success in everything and whatever you do will prosper. Joseph’s physical appearance, character, and status made it difficult for his older brothers to recognize him. But it was not difficult for Joseph to recognize his brothers, they did not change. Pain must change you into a Princess or a Prince and never into a victim.

I’m thinking out loud here – if Joseph portrayed a victim’s mentality it would have been easy for his brothers to recognize him. Those who caused you the pain should not recognize you because your pain turns into your platform and the light illuminates you.

Lose the victim mentality and grow up!

“When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows and not the flower.” You are a flower…change your environment if you are not blooming. Stop the slow death of revenge … you will die in misery while others are blooming all around you.

It’s our thinking that’s slowing destroying our dreams and not the behavior of others. It’s YOU VS YOU!

Dreams don’t die, they turn into reality when the environment is changed.

 

 

Is it time to get past what has happened? Now is not the time for seeking revenge … it’s a reunion with who you were before stuff happened. See the bigger picture of why God made you dream. Your dream is too big to use it as a weapon of mass destruction. 

It’s time to change the atmosphere in the room  … for God has sent you ahead of your family to preserve life and to continue the legacy for generations to come. Yes … it hurts, but there’s a greater purpose than the pain of rejection.

AHA MOMENTS:

• Dreams don’t die. You simply change your environment
• The plot turns into a position
• Forgiveness is so powerful, it makes you weep with relief
• It’s not how weak you begin, it’s how strong you finish
• Your dream is too big to use it as a weapon of mass destruction
• Change the atmosphere in the room and rule your world
• God sends you ahead to preserve life not to take life
• Break the generation curse of having dysfunctional homes. BE THE GENESIS IN THIS SEASON OF NEW BEGINNINGS.