There are moments in life when the way forward is perfectly clear, and yet we cannot bring ourselves to take it. Not because we don’t see it, but because the price it demands feels too high. What do you do when the only forward seems harder than standing still? Another difficult question: Can you still trust God when you cannot see His hand at work? This is exactly where Jacob’s family find themselves.
“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.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’” 6 Israel asked, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. ‘Is your father still living?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?” (Genesis 43: 1-7)
The answer is obvious, but there’s a condition that the sons knew but hadn’t revealed to Jacob until now: they would have to take Benjamin.
Do you know that experience when the only way is the way ahead, and it comes at a price you are reluctant to pay?
This is the exact situation for Jacob.
The whole family are at an impasse. Jacob won’t release Benjamin, and the famine isn’t going away. “Why did you bring this trouble on me?” The answer is, of course, they didn’t; in Egypt, they simply told the truth when asked.
The family are stuck between a famine and a condition.
Do you sometimes feel stuck like this? You are in a bleak situation, but the only road out of it seems bleaker.
I choose not to read further than this and to pause here. For there are times when we find ourselves in this exact situation.
The question isn’t whether they will return to Egypt. Your own predicament may mean you have no choice but to follow a certain path.
But the real question is this: will you trust God in that process? Even when the terms seem unfair, the sands are shifting, and no one seems to be thinking about how you may be feeling in this. Necessity will mean you have to follow this path, no matter how you feel about it. But can you answer this: Is God still Lord of your life even when you cannot see Him or His hand in your situation?
Missions Paul 