Take Me to Egypt

There are a lot of personal struggles behind my reflections on this passage. Let’s just say God has me in a place right now where I am powerless (I don’t like that feeling) and must trust Him to show Himself strong and provide comfort and strength not only for myself, but for others I care about. It is not easy to have circumstances break your routine. I think I see in Jacob some of what I should be. It is easy to stay in the Promised Land and starve. It is tougher to let God lead you to a strange land to be fed there.

Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.
Genesis 47:27

Take me to Egypt
to the foreign land
with strange people
and circumstances
that I can't understand

if in Egypt
I will find health
and blessing beyond
my present famine
and thrive in Your wealth

then take me there
by what means You choose
and in Your time I know
that what I will gain from You
will be worth the routine I lose

and temporary Egypt
may be just the place
where finally I find comfort
and health and food again
as mercy shines in Your grace

Take me to Egypt
and let me grow
beyond my comfortable home
and my desires and plans
by faith, Your grace I'll know.

Technorati Tags: Jacob,Trust,Guidance,Poetry

Enough guidance for the next few steps.

And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here am I."  Then he said, "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation."
Genesis 46:2-3

This chapter recounts a father/son reunion that has been a lifetime in the making. And it involved trusting God above all else. Jacob is at this time old and travel was a difficult proposition. His sons return to him with an official government delegation from Egypt with news that Joseph is alive and well. Jacob embraces a new hope, and makes the decision to travel to see his lost son once before he dies. Interestingly, there is  no anger at the other sons for their actions toward Joseph years before. There is just joy at the reunion.

And God meets Jacob along the way assuring him that he would make the journey and see his son. He assured him that it was in Egypt that his clan would grow to become a great nation. This was the plan of God all along. Of course, the story would eventually include hardship and slavery, but in God's grand tapestry, that would be used to draw a people to Him. For now, it was enough for Jacob to act in faith, trust God for the strength for the journey, prepare for the emotional reunion, and believe that his life would end in Egypt at God's design.

God rarely lets us in on all the ins and outs of His plans. We get glimpse to give us hope and that is enough to keep faith burning in our hearts. If we knew every nuance and every bump along the path, we might shrink back. But faith is there for us, as we need it, in incredible supply, from a God Who cannot exhaust His love and grace. 

Technorati Tags: Guidance,Providence,Jacob

a twist in an overall direction

But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.
Genesis 17:21

This is what a journey with God looks like. It twists and changes while remaining constant in its overall direction. Abraham had taken matters into his own hands by fathering Ishmael through Hagar. God makes it clear in this context that this was not what He had in mind. God would make Ishmael a nation (actually nations) of people, but a unique covenant would be established with the son of Abraham and Sarah. Abram is now Abraham and Sarai is now Sarah. By renaming this struggling couple, God was confirming that now their lives would never be the same. At ninety-nine, Abraham would father a child. At ninety, Sarah would bear that son. And laughter would follow in the wake of this wild promise.

What happens in Genesis is a natural "thinning of the ranks" as God prepares to enter a unique covenant relationship with Israel. And grace is given all the way. God is gracious to allow Abraham's son Ishmael to thrive and become a great race of nations. God is gracious to continue to bless Abraham and Sarah despite their struggles in faith. God will graciously give an infant to the aged. And God will establish his covenant with their son.

Abraham firmly believed this. He struggled. But with each new conversation with God, the faith of the patriarch becomes more firmly entrenched in the literal promises of God. A son would come to represent a future nation. A tent in Canaan would hold on to the promise of a land for all his vast descendents.