“Mercy Before the Man”

                      “Mercy Before the Man” 
                                from Genesis 43

When grain ran out and hope ran thin, a father’s heart gave way within. “Take him,” he said, his precious one, but clung to prayer when words were done.

Wisdom spoke in Judah’s voice: “I’ll bear the blame. There is no choice.” A brother changed by sorrowed years now shields the youngest through his tears.

Love waited at an unknown table, where mercy ruled, not law or label. The feast prepared by hidden grace, a stranger’s joy, a brother’s face.

Faith let go what fear once tethered, entrusting what the past had weathered. And in the pause between each breath, God whispered life through famine’s death.

So journeys turned, and hearts were stirred. A sacred promise softly heard: before the man, beneath the plan, a Father’s mercy gently ran.