📅 November 23, 2025

🌾 Joseph – Faith That Carries You Through
Devotions from the Life of a Dreamer with Character

🤲 3. Betrayed, But Not Abandoned
God stays – even when others let you fall

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👣 Introduction

Betrayal – it is more than a quarrel or a misunderstanding.
It is a pain that cuts deeply,
because it arises in the place where love should live.

Betrayal happens where trust dwells.
Where you should be safe.
Where you let people in who matter to you.

Joseph knew this pain.
And the bitter part? It didn’t come from enemies.
Not from strangers.
But from those with whom he had shared childhood, meals, laughter, and daily life.

His brothers.

But in everything that broke –
God remained.

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📖 Devotion

Genesis 37:28
“Then Midianite merchants passed by; and they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver…”

Imagine the scene:

The dust of the midday heat hangs heavy in the air.
Joseph rubs his eyes – they burn from crying.
He sits in the pit, deep down, trapped in darkness and fear.

Above he hears voices.
Whispering.
Footsteps in the sand.

It’s his brothers.
Maybe they’re coming to pull him out?
Maybe they realized they went too far?

He straightens up.
Hope.
One last rise of courage.

But then he hears something else.
Strange voices.
Chains.
Harsh words.
And suddenly hands grab him – rough and cold.

He is not pulled into the arms of his brothers –
but into foreign hands.

He looks up – and sees the faces of his brothers.
No one moves.
No one protests.
No one says, “Stop, that’s our brother!”

No one.

Then the clinking of money bags.
Twenty pieces of silver.
The price of a life.
His life.

The sand crunches under his feet as they lead him away.
His home behind him.
His family remaining silent.
And his future?
Nothing but a blur.

But while he is led deeper into the desert,
while his heart burns with fear and disappointment
– another story begins.

God goes with him.

He goes with him into the caravan,
into Potiphar’s house,
into the prison cell.

Joseph loses his family –
but not God.

And this is the secret of his life:
People could betray him,
but God could not abandon him.

In every new situation, this sentence stands over him like a beacon:

“And the LORD was with Joseph…” (Genesis 39:2)

Not once was Joseph truly alone.
Not in the pit,
not in the foreign land,
not in the darkest nights.

God was there – quiet, unseen,
but stronger than any pain.

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💡 Thoughts – What does this mean for us?

• People can fail – God cannot.

• The darkest moments can be the beginning of something greater.

• Betrayal is not the end – often it is the transition into God’s plan.

• When all doors close, God’s door remains open.

• Loneliness does not mean you are alone.

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💎 What can we learn from Joseph?

• God goes with you, even when others walk away.

• Our identity is not defined by how others treat us.

• You can be broken – and still not break.

• God uses even our deepest wounds for His plan.

• Trust in God is stronger than the pain people cause.

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👣 Practical steps for you

• Tell God your pain honestly.
  You don’t need to hide anything – He knows it anyway.

• Seek people who strengthen you spiritually.
  Don’t let the wrong people define who you are.

• Remind yourself daily: God remains.
  Write it down, pray it, speak it aloud.

• Forgive – maybe not today, but someday.
  Not to free the other person,
  but so your heart can be free again.

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💭 Practical questions for reflection

1. Where have I experienced someone abusing my trust?

2. What feelings am I still carrying with me?

3. Where have I assumed that God might have left me?

4. How could I learn again to trust God in every situation?

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🙏 Prayer

Dear Father in heaven,
you know my pain and the moments in which I feel betrayed.
You see where I have been hurt – by people who mattered to me.

Thank you that you remain,
even when others leave.
Thank you that you are by my side
when I feel alone.

Heal my heart.
Give me strength to keep going.
Teach me to trust you –
even when I cannot see the path yet.

And give me the assurance
that you will never let me fall.

Amen.

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🔑 Key thought of the day

People can leave you –
God never will.
His faithfulness is greater than any betrayal.

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🌿 Blessing to close

The God who held Joseph
when everyone else let him go,
holds you too.

May He bless you with comfort,
with peace for your heart,
and with courage for your path.

May He let you feel
that He stays by your side –
in light and in darkness.

And may His love guide you
until you understand:
You are never alone.

Amen.

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LumenCorde | Daily light for a living soul.

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