I am sure, like me. You have been called at some point down a path, a particular chapter of your life, that has been frightening because you have never experienced this particular moment before.
It is hard to imagine what Jacob must have felt at 130 years of age, having spent many years thinking Joseph was dead, and now knowing Benjamin was held in Egypt, he is travelling to this foreign land. He will travel through a place where his grandfather and father made commitments to God. This is a special place. Overnight, he had an encounter with God.
“So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. 3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.” (Genesis 46 v 1-4)
Jacob! Jacob!
The same voice and urgent double-name call as when God calls Abraham to drop the knife, and when he calls Moses from the burning bush. There are moments in our lives when God needs to be heard, and this is one of them.
The comfort God brings isn’t a promise of ease or enjoyment but His presence. “I will go down with you,” God promises Jacob something he thought would never possibly happen. As an old man, he would die and join his beloved son. Yet God says, “You will see him. He will be there at the very end.”
Where is your Egypt? What is in front of you that seems daunting? There is a simple pattern here that will help us when we find ourselves in similar situations.
- Pausing to bring praise to God.
- Carrying the promise of God.
- Trusting the presence of God.
Whatever Egypt is for you, just go, for you won’t be going alone!
(https://www.justgiving.com/page/paul-hudson-elim?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL
I am posting this link for a few weeks to ask you to contribute to a cause that is so important and to spur me up a hill in June!
Missions Paul 