Miketz/at the end
Genesis 41:1-47:17
Isaiah 66:1-24
“Hugging a cactus”… As usual I have to fight the battle in my mind to address the obvious great truths in this week’s torah portion…but Genesis 45:5,7 ‘jumped out” at me:
5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life… 7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Oh, how we would all love to have a testimony like Joseph’s! Man, can you even imagine that much power and authority? He could choose whom to help and who to hurt! Imagine the lifestyle of one living in the palace with such a lofty position… Did he get there because that was his goal? Did he get there because he was so smart and cunning? Did he get there because he was so handsome that even the king’s wife threw herself at him? Did he get there…on his own merit? “God sent me before you to preserve life…” Was he even aware of this truth all along; or did the Lord of Glory; the Everlasting King of Israel reveal it to him? Was he just trying to survive, like the rest of us? How noble was he really? Did he think the dreams he had as a young man spoke to these days? Oh, but the wonderful grace of God; that grace that doesn’t just cover wanton sin and stupidity…but that grace that causes flesh and blood to flourish under the sovereign Hand of the Living God! That grace that helps anesthetize your flesh when you are called on to “hug a cactus”! Go back and read some of the earlier chapters in Genesis and consider how difficult some of Joseph’s choices were, that later, by the sovereign Hand of God, put him in this highest of positions in Egypt; from the lowest. He needed more than endurance and good looks; he needed more than a jovial spirit to be liked by the other inmates and guards…he needed more than philosophical understanding of people and dreams…he needed God to give him grace, so he didn’t cry out in self-pity in his ups and downs; so he didn’t lose courage, but was able instead to “hug the cacti” of his circumstances. To embrace the discomfort of constant disappointments; to lay aside his own scenario of what should be and what was owed him…That grace that allowed him with full force and even in the pain, stretch out those weak and selfish arms of his, and wrap them around each situation, until the promotion that was to preserve his family arrived. No not just to preserve them, but to plant them in good soil in a time of drought and famine that would bring forth a mighty nation from a small broken family, some 400 years later. They would march out of this captivity, and make the way for our ‘Joseph’; the Lord Jesus Messiah. The One Who endured all the pain and shame on our behalf; including our sin that also sold Him, so He too could say:
5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life…
…let’s not stop there today, but ask for the kind of grace from the Holy One of Israel, to help us “embrace the cacti” that befall us, so we can say the same to our families and acquaintances:
5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life…
What if He saved us for more than heaven… He wrapped His arms around every splinter on that cross, so we could endure the pain of our circumstances and embrace our cacti! By john eisner
Ps: before you go, I need you to consider taking a moment and clicking on the link below; especially if you are a Gentile believer! I wrote a short book on the book of Ephesians to help encourage your heart in the purposes of God and His desire to have you experience the fullness of being a member of His household. Many believers have never thought beyond the basics of going to heaven and all that is connected with that. I believe He has saved us for more, and I don’t mean more work! So if you don’t mind following the link and even reading a bit of what Amazon will allow you; even if you don’t buy a book or kindle; He may either way want to speak to you about the riches of your inheritance in the saints, as only a Gentile can see them…The Book of Ephesians: a love story to the Gentiles: eisner, john: 9781733758420: Amazon.com: Books
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