My dad right now is in the biggest battle of his life, as every day he fights Alzheimer’s. I get to see him probably every 2-3 weeks. According to my mum, he gets excited when he knows I am coming. Thankfully, he still knows me.
As we all move into the closing chapters of our lives, being able to feel and express emotions becomes a gift; sadly, some don’t even have that.
In two short verses as we begin chapter 48, we see this with old man Jacob.
“Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.” (Genesis 48 v 1-2)
Jacob actually had enough strength left to give another blessing. It wasn’t rest that gave him the strength to rally. It was the name of his son, Joseph. He had enough life in him for one final blessing, but he needed his son’s arrival to find it.
We, too, are often like Jacob, worn down by circumstances beyond our control. Tired in ways that rest doesn’t fix. Lying back when we once stood tall. God knows who to send that will cause you to sit up again, to go again. He knows the people who can light up the room you are in. Sometimes the relief we need is not the circumstance to change but a person to walk through the door. The right person at the right moment can do what no amount of rest or resolution can: reach something in us that we thought was gone.
And of course, we can be that person for someone else. We can be the name that gets spoken and causes someone to rally. We can walk into a room and change it.
Someone, somewhere, is lying back on their bed. They’re not waiting for their circumstances to change. They’re waiting for you to walk in.
Missions Paul 