Stories Best Left Untold

Israel (Jacob) had a favorite son. His name was Joseph. Israel’s other 11 sons knew their father was partial to Joseph, therefore, they hated their younger brother. To make matters worse Joseph had two dreams, both of which he should have known would make his brothers hate him even more if he told them. That is exactly what Joseph did. Each dream represented scenes in which his brothers bowed down to him signifying that they were subordinate to Joseph’s authority.

When the brothers got the opportunity they decided to kill Joseph, but the oldest brother, Ruben, intervened and talked the others into putting little brother in a cistern instead. Ruben was going to come back later, get Joseph out of the pit, and take him home to their father. As it turned out a caravan of merchants came by on their way to Egypt, and the brothers sold Joseph to them. Ruben was not there at the time to prevent the transaction so Joseph was taken to Egypt where he was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard.

Even though this was God’s plan all along I think we find here an example for all of us.  Joseph should have kept his mouth shut. Some stories are best left untold. Have you known people who tell things that were none of their business? I have heard stories from others that although they were involve should not have been shared because others were hurt and embarrassed. I have a few stories about mistakes I’ve made that I think might keep some from making the same mistake, but I can’t tell those stories because others would be hurt if I told them. There are some really funny things about former students, fellow teachers, and church members that I would love to include in a book, but I can’t share them because those people would be embarrassed.

We just can’t tell everything we know. We should never share information told to us in confidence. Honor a person’s desire for you to not tell their secrets. Even if you mistakenly hear some juicy information which may or may not hurt another person, keep it to yourself. And be careful what you tell others about yourself. You could end up in a dark pit if you share your darkest secrets with the wrong person.