Shalom, Dear Ones.
It’s a blessing from on high to be chatting with you. My soul rejoices in the day granted us by the great I AM.
How have you been?
I notice that there’s tension growing among the people around me. They say things are happening that make no sense and fly in the face of righteousness and justice. Never mind peace and security. Is this you too?
Let me assure you God has not abandoned His world or His people. Click To Tweet
The uncertainty and dread I hear expressed lead my thoughts to Jakov. I’m sure you remember him. I shared with you how his name got changed to Yisrael and what it meant. Today I find myself sitting beside this unsuspecting father when that crushing scene unfolded.
Jakov’s sons come to him carrying a bloodied robe and asking him whether it was the one he’d given to Josef. How Jakov’s heart must have lurched in his chest. Josef was the son he loved more than all the others.
Did Jakov stop breathing as his eyes took in the ruined garment?
Did he shiver when his fingers touched the stiffness of the encrusted bloodstains?
Did he gag at the stench rising from the gore embedded in the fabric?
In the blink of a camel’s eye Jakov had to decide if this was the colorful garment he’d given to Josef … and if so, what did it mean?
His conclusion is recorded, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Josef has surely been torn to pieces.”
But … I wonder … was that the only reasonable response?
Come. Walk with me into the earlier days of this favored child. Surely you can keep up with an old woman.
When Josef was a young man of seventeen he was given two dreams. He shared them with his brothers and his father. They became convinced the visions meant that Josef would one day rule over them. The brothers took it as more reason to hate him. His father spoke sternly to him, but gave the incidents enough important to store them in his memory.
Those of us living in the time of the judges recognized such messages as coming from the Almighty. As a man living in the times of the first scroll, Jakov surely knew that I AM spoke to His people in dreams and visions.
He, like we, would have known the accounts of Avram’s vision that he would have a son and that it came true. He would have been well aware of Sarai’s rescue after the dream Abimelech’s informative dream. And Moshe pointed out the Almighty sent messages in these very ways in chapter 24 of the fourth scroll.
I mean … really. Consider it, Dear Ones.
Sandra, be sure you’re paying attention too.
Jakov understood and received enough of these accounts to mark the dreams of Josef as significant enough to remember. Yet when the time came to refer to those memories and trust the visions, he chose otherwise. Rather than rely on what he knew of the Almighty and His communication, he set aside that history and understanding. Instead of responding in knowledge and wisdom, he reacted to the evidence of the moment.
It makes me wonder, Dear Ones. How many are making the same decision in these days?
Each of us chosen by the Almighty and faced with confusing, unsettling, devastating events sit with Jakov. My time in Moav certainly sat me there. In that place we have the same two options:
- Give in to the bloody signs with full-on weeping and mourning.
Allow the feelings of powerlessness to fan the embers of fear and hopelessness into a raging fire.
Take on an existence of depression and pessimism. - Remember who the Almighty is and all He has done.
Rely on the wisdom of His words and the history of His loving care to revive and nurture the seeds of faith.
Carry on a life of confidence in the great I AM, courage under His care, and commitment to His service.
I wonder. How have you been managing in this challenging part of the journey?
Sandra and I would be blessed if you would share a Comment.
Shalom.