January 17
Genesis 45:16-47:27
I think we have a secret desire for our lives to be like a dot-to-dot puzzle─let me explain. In a dot-to-dot, there is a clear next step for your life. You move from number 1, to number 2, etc. There are no surprises and, from the very beginning, you can get a general sense of where you are headed and what the picture is going to be. Life is not like that. It is filled with twists, turns, unexpected events, and often heartbreaking tragedies.
Our reading today is an example of these surprises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel had been told they would have the Promised Land as their inheritance. This promise must have been interpreted at times to mean they would remain in the land uninterrupted (despite Genesis 15:13- 16): thus, God must tell Jacob that he was allowed to go with his family to Egypt. This was a surprise to Jacob, but not to God. Despite the surprise of moving the whole family down to Egypt and hundreds of years of slavery for their descendants that would ensue, nothing regarding God’s promises would change. All God had spoken would find fulfillment. What hope and certainty that brings; knowing that nothing, yes, absolutely nothing can thwart the plans and promises of God. So no matter the difficulty of today, we can cling to the certainty of what God is going to make happen.
Father God, thank you that you are the sovereign king of the universe. Help me to rest in you, rely on you, and trust in you even when life seems out of control. Amen.
In what surprising event in your life have you seen God work for his glory?
I think we have a secret desire for our lives to be like a dot-to-dot puzzle─let me explain. In a dot-to-dot, there is a clear next step for your life. You move from number 1, to number 2, etc. There are no surprises and, from the very beginning, you can get a general sense of where you are headed and what the picture is going to be. Life is not like that. It is filled with twists, turns, unexpected events, and often heartbreaking tragedies.
Our reading today is an example of these surprises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel had been told they would have the Promised Land as their inheritance. This promise must have been interpreted at times to mean they would remain in the land uninterrupted (despite Genesis 15:13- 16): thus, God must tell Jacob that he was allowed to go with his family to Egypt. This was a surprise to Jacob, but not to God. Despite the surprise of moving the whole family down to Egypt and hundreds of years of slavery for their descendants that would ensue, nothing regarding God’s promises would change. All God had spoken would find fulfillment. What hope and certainty that brings; knowing that nothing, yes, absolutely nothing can thwart the plans and promises of God. So no matter the difficulty of today, we can cling to the certainty of what God is going to make happen.
Father God, thank you that you are the sovereign king of the universe. Help me to rest in you, rely on you, and trust in you even when life seems out of control. Amen.
In what surprising event in your life have you seen God work for his glory?
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