“All these things are against me.”¹  Have you ever said this?  Or at least thought it?  Sometimes the circumstances in our lives can feel heavy, and in some cases, so heavy that they seem ready to crush us.  These are the words Jacob spoke in Chapter 42 of Genesis when his sons returned from Egypt after being sent there to buy corn.  A sore famine was in the land and the only place that had food was Egypt.  If you know the story of Jacob and his twelve sons, then you know that Joseph was betrayed by his 10 older brothers and sold into slavery as a teenager.  In order to hide what they had done, they took Joseph’s coat of many colors, which Jacob had made for him, dipped it in goat’s blood, and convinced Jacob that his beloved son was dead.  However, God was with Joseph and when he was 30 years old, he was made second in command to the Pharoah of Egypt.  All of the grain in Egypt was under Joseph’s control to store and distribute. Now, thirteen years later, out of desperation in the famine, Jacob sent his sons to buy grain in Egypt.

When the sons returned, they did bring some corn with them, but they were missing one of their brothers, Simeon.  Jacob’s sons then related to their father what had happened. The “lord of the land²”, who was actually their brother Joseph,  accused them of being spies.  They assured him that they were not spies. They replied, “Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan: and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.”  Joseph imprisoned them for 3 days, then sent all, but Simeon, home with instructions to bring back their youngest brother, Benjamin.  When they returned with Benjamin, he would release Simeon.   Joseph recognized his brothers right away, but wanted to test them to see if they were still the same people who betrayed him, or if they had grown and matured and maybe repented for what they had done.  He also may have wanted to see if his youngest brother was okay and if they had shamefully mistreated him in the same way they mistreated Joseph.  Joseph and Benjamin were the only sons born to the one Jacob loved most, Rachel.  Upon hearing the news that Simeon was being held prisoner and that they wanted to take Benjamin away, Jacob lamented that these things and the fact that he had already lost Joseph were all things against him.  As readers of these events, we know that this statement is not true.  Joseph isn’t dead and Simeon and Benjamin will be reunited with their father!  Also, they will all be saved from starvation.  Of course, Jacob doesn’t know any of these things yet.  The present circumstances are certainly dire.  We can sympathize with Jacob.  We know how it feels to be in the midst of circumstances that are dark and hopeless. Circumstances that threaten our future or the future of our family members.  We may even think, like Jacob, that if the events come to pass that we are dreading, we will not be able to survive it.  I know I have been in those places in my life.  And, I’m here today to tell you that, not only did I survive it, but I have prospered!  If you finish the book of Genesis, you will learn that Jacob survived and prospered as well.  Of course, my story is not finished yet.  As long as I wake up each day, there is another chapter to be written and in those chapters I am certain there will be dark days, joyous days, difficult circumstances and wonderful circumstances.   I am convinced there will be days where my faith is strong and my hope secure and days where I will be scared and unsure of what lies ahead.  Through it all I will try to remember that all of these things I experience are temporary and on the surface.  God is moving behind the scenes.  He has a plan and purpose for my life that will come to pass.  Just like he had a plan and a purpose for Abraham and His seed from the very beginning.  Jacob was only seeing small pieces of that story as they unfolded, all the while knowing God’s promise that a “nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.³”  God spoke this promise to Jacob when he was in Bethel, after which Jacob erected a pillar in the place where God spoke with him.  He had this promise directly from God!  These difficult circumstances that he was now in, approximately 20 years after this meeting with God, were not going to change God’s promise.  I am encouraged by this!  I can’t possibly know all of the ways God is working and moving in my life and in the lives of those around me.  My current circumstance or challenge is in no way an indication that He is not there and that His plans are not coming to pass. My current circumstance or challenge may look bleak, but will I say “all these things are against me¹” or will I say have your way, Lord.  I am trusting, hopeful and expectant of what you are doing and will do now, and in the days to come.  I encourage you to look past your present circumstance, whether it be bleak or bright, and look to Jesus who loves you with a tender and unconditional love.  Know that He is for you and desires to bless you and not harm you.  Trust that He is moving and there will come a day when you will look back and see the fruit of what He is doing.  Even to trust that the fruit is coming, even if you don’t ever see it.  We serve an amazing God Who is always near and how blessed we are to fellowship with Him anytime, anywhere. 

“O GOD, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.  Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.  Psalm 63: 1-8

1. Genesis 42:36
2. Genesis 42:30
3. Genesis 35: 11-12