Do you know this experience? You look around and can see the evidence of God’s provision. You have put down roots. But something in you knows this isn’t the place you were made for. You are not ungrateful, but you know there is more. This is what verse 27 speaks to me about.
“Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.” (Genesis 47 v 27)
Let’s pause a moment. We need to. We have had the famine, the reunion, the tears, the gifts, and the ongoing hardships for Egyptians living through the famine.
In this one verse, we have the opposite happening for Jacob’s family.
They settled. They acquired. They increased greatly.
But remember, this is Goshen, in Egypt; this was never supposed to be the destination.
So, is this blessing, or is this entanglement, or both?
The Promised Land was not this land. A nation was not meant to grow from within Egypt. This is still exile.
Ever wondered if you are in the right place? You are blessed, but something doesn’t feel right?
The promise of their own nation is alive, but right now it lives in exile.
Ever know the feeling of the blessing arriving in a form you didn’t expect? You settle because there is no alternative. It is all you can do. You know this isn’t what you are called to or for, but this is it, for now.
Where are you settled right now? Is Goshen home, or is it just a fruitful place on the way to somewhere better?
Goshen was provision, but not the promise. The Israelites settled, and God was in that settling. But the story was not over.
Sometimes the only way to get to your destiny is to live faithfully in the place you are, until the road opens again.
Missions Paul 