For some of you, this was a long drawn out jlog that could have easily been solved by telling this in the beginning.  I do think we need to realize that there are various facets of resentment we need to be aware of.  But the resolution of resentment is what we all would hope for when we find ourselves in situations of being treated unfairly.

Joseph demonstrated the healthy way to deal with resentment after feeling helpless and experiencing the downward spiral of events he had no control of.  He even demonstrated retaliation measures before he turned to the resolution of resentment.

“Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace. “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.

God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt. “Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately!”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭45:1-5, 7-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Did you hear the secret of resolving resentment?  Joseph wasn’t looking at the circumstances he had no control of.  He was seeing that it was God who orchestrated his past and present situation.  Joseph mentions God four times.  “IT WAS GOD”.  “GOD HAS SENT ME”.  “IT WAS GOD WHO SENT ME”.  Joseph transformed his past events into realizing that God was the controller of the past and his present.

Moving ahead to where Jacob, the father of the brothers dies.  After the burial, an interesting thing happens.  “But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.  (Retaliation at it’s best, or worst).

But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭50:15, 19-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

On this journey, Romans 8:28 comes to mind when Paul says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”  It doesn’t say that all things are good.  There are bad things.  There are good things.  There are things that we are helpless to do anything about.  But God causes everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly, to work together for good.  I hope on your journey that today you can see God working in your situation to cause it to be good for His glory.