Hidden Perspectives in Pain (Genesis 42)

Genesis 42: Hidden Perspectives

The sons of Israel find themselves in a predicament. They are standing in front of the Governor of the land of Egypt, starving, with money to buy grain, and getting harassed by this man. He questions their sincerity, demands that their brother Benjamin be sent down, puts them in prison for three days, and then holds their brother Simeon as collateral for them to come back.

They say: "God is punishing us for what we did to our brother Joseph!" Reuben quips "I told you not to do what you did!" (Genesis 42:21-22)

Meanwhile, the Governor, unbeknownst to them, is Joseph.

They go back home to Canaan, less one of them, and find that the money they allocated for the grain purchase was still in their sack. They freak out. I'm sure they are thinking "OH NO! When he finds out, we are hosed!"

What they didn't know was Joseph put the money back in the sacks.

Jacob, upon hearing the news, is heartbroken and believes he's just lost another son. Not only that, the most powerful man in the world at that time doesn't seem to be at all their friend, and they just stole grain... this can't end well. He stubbornly refuses to believe the nine when they say that going back down and bringing Benjamin with them is the best next step for them. Jacob just sees that the other shoe has dropped, and he lets his sons have it (Genesis 42:38)

All Jacob and sons could see was the pain, the trial, and bad.

They were blind to the spiritual reality of what was really going on.

Meanwhile, Joseph had some perspective. He's been through this himself, but God gave Joseph insight into what was going on. There was this dream he had once, which he unwisely (I believe) told his brothers about, which got them really upset, which resulted in him getting sold into slavery into Egypt, which resulted in him gaining the trust of an official, of a jailer, doing administrative work.

Which resulted in Joseph gaining the trust of Pharoah, storing up grain, and creating this great provision for Egypt and for his family.

God gave Joseph a vision into what He was doing. He was using all of these black marks, all of this pain in their eyes, to provide for His people. Eventually, this will result in Israel being given safe haven in Egypt (which would become powerful through buying the loyalties of the neighboring peoples via the grain program) where they can multiply outside of the chaos of Canaan... where then (430 years later) , well... read Exodus.

Joseph remembered his dream and the light clicked for him. (Genesis 42:9). All of this turbulence, as unpleasant as it was, was God working. He finally saw it.

All Jacob and the rest of them saw was a stern ruler and a famine.

What God was doing was providing food, safety, and safe haven for His people. They would eventually see that, but not now. All they saw at the time was an international crisis.

Isn't this true for us too? We usually see God's provision during our pain in the rear view mirror. Most of us, in 20/20 hindsight, are thankful for our trials, but during the trials we have the perspective of Jacob and the other brothers. We think God is punishing us when God is actually working to prepare and provide for us. We do have a choice, however. This was a choice that Israel and his sons didn't take.

We can choose to look at our circumstances through the lens of faith. We can choose to believe that God is working, even if we can't see it. We can choose to rejoice, even in the trial. We can choose to praise Him in the storm.

Will we? Will we ask God to give us the eyes of faith to see what He sees, and let that guide our outlook and our lives? The way we approach circumstances and witness to the world will be vastly different if we make this choice.