I have to imagine that it was terrifying for Jacob, an old man, to pick up and move everything to a place he didn't know. Thus, God sent him the comforting dream at the perfect time. All Gos had to remind Jake to do was to be not afraid, and trus, and Jacob's fears were diminished. I love that. I love that sometimes we're terrified, and that it chills us to our very souls, so we have to lean on God. If I didn't have that occasional scare or poignant sadness, I think I would be a bit more prone to forget about the one who loves me the most.
Joseph and his daddy have a glorious renuion, with weeping and hugging and loving words.
God made their lives so happy, and I love to see him do the same in mine.
Genesis 47
Pharaoh LOVES Joseph. He gives Joe's family the best land, and offers one of them a position in charge of his very own livestock. This is awesome, because Joseph didn't do all that much to get to this favored and cherished position - he only had to trust God with everything, and God made everything fall together.
This is probably something I struggle with. Despite how much I work to make it otherwise, I have a real insecurity when it comes to people not liking me. So I try to do things to make myself more appealing to them. I'm not talking like doing drugs, or partying super hard. I more mean that I try to say the right things, or conjure the perfect response. People call me a try-hard, which I hate, though I know that it is true. I try so hard to get people's approval. I even struggle with getting respect and love from my friends sometimes.
I know if I just trusted God with it, everything would be fine. And I try it all the time. It usually works, for up to a day. But then something happens, or I feel lonely, and I have to reach out and try again.
Joseph didn't have to do anything except be himself, and trust wholly in his creator for Pharaoh to be totally obsessed with him. I know God will do the same for me. I just have to practice the trust part.
Much of this chapter talks about how the Egyptians paid for their food. After giving away their livestock in exchange for food, they give away their land and selves.
They enslave themselves, to pay for their empty bellies. The marvelous thing about this, too, is I think it was the best thing to do at the time. What other choice was there? I think they see this, too. Though they're in a place of total servitude, they're simply eternally grateful to Joe to not be hungry. They're excited to have their needs met.
There's this saying I like: "take joy in the ordinary." A lot of times, this is challenging to do. But in times of strife, it's easier to look around you and find joy in things that are absolutely incredible. Like a little seed, or a plate of food. That's where the joy was, for the slaves.
When Jake is getting ready to pass away, he and his son do the weird thigh-promise thing. It still makes me uncomfortable. Joe promises to bury his dad where his predecessors were married - in Canaan, also known as the Promised Land.
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