We all have something we are holding on to. Something we have decided we will not let go of, no matter what. It might be a plan we refuse to abandon, a relationship we won’t let go of or a fear we have dressed up as wisdom. We hold our ground, but then the difficult season does not end, and we are struggling to hold on. What happens when one morning you wake up, and the sacks are simply empty?
“Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2 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.” (Genesis 43 v 1-2)
One morning, there were no more sacks. The grain had been eaten. So Jacob changed his mind. The crisis, which hadn’t ended, made him do so. The famine was still severe, so Jacob instructed his sons to return, but the non-negotiable condition still hung before them. If they ever return, they must bring their youngest brother, Benjamin, with them. That was the warning they were given. Joseph had been eaten by a wild animal, so Jacob had thought. There was no way he would release Benjamin; he couldn’t risk losing him as well. But the famine spoke louder than his decision.
Maybe your situation hasn’t yet lifted. It could still be ‘severe’. It is speaking to you every day.
It was only when the grain was completely gone that Jacob finally relented. Here is a man who has run out of options. Little does he realise right now that Benjamin’s journey to Egypt is the very thing that will reunite the whole family and show Jacob that the son he had mourned for years is very much alive.
Jacob released the thing he was most afraid to lose because hunger finally broke his grip.
Sometimes God just waits for the grain to run out, for then He knows we will move in the direction He wants us to.
God has not forgotten you in your severe season. He may simply be waiting for the grain to run out. Not to punish you, but to help you release everything (even your past hurts and your present Benjamin). What God has waiting on the other side of your surrender is more than you have dared to hope for.
Missions Paul 