"Now the famine was still severe in the land. So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, 'Go back and buy us a little more food'" (vv.1-2)
Jacob’s sons had already gone to Egypt once for grain because of the famine, and had left behind their brother Simeon and been told not to return without their younger brother Benjamin. Jacob did not want to send him, but the famine was bad and his family needed food. Jacob was desperate and reluctantly gave it over to God Almighty saying, “If I lose my son, I lose my son.” Severe pressure (famine) forced him to allow God to be God.
Pessimism had gone even deeper into Jacob’s heart after the loss of his favorite son Joseph. Of course he had no idea that the man in Egypt requiring him to send his youngest son ahead was in fact the son he thought he had lost. Now, God was in the process of restoring everything Jacob had lost and more, but he had become so negative he couldn’t see God’s blessings coming right at him. Even though he’d known the Lord for over 100 years, Jacob was a man who had a lot of trouble walking by faith.
The habits of pessimism, cynicism, doubt, distrust, and negative thinking are perhaps the most difficult habits to change. Here we see that God was in the process of forcing change on Jacob through his circumstances. That’s because God knew Jacob couldn’t become what he needed him to be, by remaining what he was.
The very same thing is true in our lives. So the lesson for us here is to be careful when we find ourselves resisting change, because we might just be resisting God!
The Truth: "Know that the LORD, He is God! It is he who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture." (Psalm 100:3)
