Against All Fear

 Famine. Fear is thick. So the ten brothers of Leah go off to Egypt. They meet a fearsome man who accuses them of being spies: their only way to prove their story is correct is to bring their younger brother back to Egypt. They return minus a brother, Simeon, left in an Egyptian prison. Jacob's fear refuses to let Benjamin go. 

Famine is still raging. Fear is raging. Bellies rumbling. 

Desperate, Jacob agrees. "And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.” (Genesis 43:14). 

He's lost Joseph. He fears he will lose Benjamin. He fears he cannot stand that grief. Yet fear of food, fear of hunger. Caught between two fears. All he can see is fear in either way. 

But God--but God is actually working against the very thing Jacob fears. In Jacob's fear of loss, God is working to restore. In Jacob's fear of separation, God is working to reconcile. In Jacob's fear of hunger, God is working to provide. 

By going to Egypt--God will restore Joseph, Jacob's deepest grief. By going to Egypt, God will reunite and reconcile the broken family. God will provide in abundance. 

How do you identify with Jacob? How does this story resonate with you? 

What do you learn about God? How do you see his heart?