THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

October 4, 2023

LIFE IN THE FOLD

For the past several weeks I have been teaching about Joseph at midweek Bible study at our church. It has been very good with a lot of wonderful discussion. If you have never read Joseph's story or if it's been a while, I encourage you to do so. It is found in Genesis 37-50.

Today I'd like to share some thoughts from chapters 42 and 43.

A famine struck not only Egypt, but was in Canaan, too. Jacob heard that there was grain available in Egypt, so send his sons to go buy enough to keep them alive; otherwise they would die from starvation. So Joseph's ten older brothers all traveled to Egypt to buy grain. They hadn't seen Joseph since he was 17 years old, and 22 years had passed since they had sold him into slavery. They had no idea what had happened to him in the meantime and sure didn't suspect that he was second-in-command over all Egypt. Joseph recognized them, but they didn't know who he was.

Joseph sold them the grain, but asked many questions about whether their father was still alive and if they had anymore brothers. He ended up placing them in prison for three days. He released them, but made it very clear that they would not be able to purchase anymore grain unless they brought Benjamin with them. So they would know that he was serious, he tied up Simeon in front of them and said he was keeping him in Egypt in prison until they returned.

The brothers arrived back home and told Jacob, their father, all that had happened. Jacob was adamant that there was no way that he would allow Benjamin to go with them. He had already lost Joseph and if anything should happen to Benjamin, too, it would send him to his grave. It didn't matter what his sons said, he was not going to change his mind. Reuben, the oldest, tried to reason with him to no avail.

The famine continued ravaging the land of Canaan and the grain that they had bought was running out. Jacob told his sons to go buy more. Judah spoke up this time and told his father, "This man (Joseph) was serious when he warned us, 'You won't see my face again unless your brother (Benjamin) is with you.' If you send Benjamin with us, we will go buy more food. If you won't let him go, then we won't go either."

Jacob was struggling with this! He asked, "Why were you so cruel to me? Why did you tell him that you had another brother?"

His sons replied, "He kept asking us questions about our family, so we answered them. How could we know he would say, 'Bring your brother here?"

Understand, Benjamin was Jacob's youngest son; but he wasn't a young boy at this time. He would have been in his mid-thirties and had ten sons of his own! Yet he was the son that Jacob's beloved wife, Rachel, gave birth to, then she died just shortly after Benjamin was born.

Judah promised his father that he would protect Benjamin to the best of his ability. He petitioned Jacob, "Please send him with us so we can be on our way. Otherwise we will all die of starvation -- not only we (meaning him and his brothers), but you and our little ones."

Finally, Jacob agreed to allow Benjamin to go to Egypt with his brothers. He said, "If I must lose my children, so be it."

I don't know how much time passed between the time Jacob's sons arrived home from Egypt until he finally decided to allow Benjamin to go back with them, but it was enough for their supply of grain to dwindle down to almost nothing. Simeon was waiting in an Egyptian prison this entire time. Even though Jacob knew that he had a son in prison and saw that their food supply was running out and they had no other way to get food, it still took him some time to finally come to the point where he could trust God to care for Benjamin and say, "Whatever happens, so be it."

Sometimes we go through struggles where it is difficult for us to trust God. We work and try to do what we can on our own and we have a firm grip on whatever it is that God is asking us to release to Him. It may be something big, or something small. He's urging us to let go and surrender it to His care, but there are times when we are begging Him to find another way and not ask us to do something so hard.

God had good plans for Jacob! He had plans to reunite him with his long lost son, Joseph! But first, Jacob had to surrender Benjamin and release his fear of losing him. He had to trust God with his future and with his children and let go of his fears.

I have taken care of my nephews' daughter since she was just a few days old. Last week I wrote about some of the things that she has gone through during her short little life. I carried her around as a newborn when she was fragile and the doctor told her parents to be sure and watch her breathing; and they were required to take baby CPR classes before bringing her home. When she became mobile, she would fall forward and hit her forehead and seemingly had pump knots on it all the time. She had her first surgery as a baby; then has had two major critical operations as a toddler. I have held her, carried her around, and loved on her for five years. She has my heart!

She and her brother started kindergarten this year. They are four months apart, through the blessing of adoption, so it's almost like having twins. I wasn't so worried about him, because he's been healthy and not had the issues that she has. She is doing great now and is a miracle girl, but still has to have some weekly physical therapy to help her with a few issues.

This school year I get them on the bus each morning. That first day of school, I was a wreck! Their parents told me to let them ride the bus, so they'd know what to do when they came home that afternoon, but I struggled. When we were waiting for the bus to come my niece was clinging to my hand and told me, "I'm a little bit scared!" When the bus arrived, she wouldn't let go until she was climbing the steps to the bus. I thought, "She looks so little and those bus steps are too steep for her short little legs!" Those first few days she crawled up them, by putting her hands down on the step above her and climbing up that way. Watching her that first day, I thought, "What if she falls going up and down those bus steps! She would bust her head open and could get hurt really, really bad!"

After the bus left and I got into my car to head back home, I couldn't stop crying. I kept worrying about her and fearful that she could get hurt. I just wanted to wrap her in bubble wrap and protect her, but knew that was impossible and not what she needed. So I had to change my perspective. I started praying and said, "Father, I'm so thankful that you love her much more than I do! As much as I love her and desire to protect her, You love her even more and are always with her, watching over her and taking good care of her. I trust you with her. I trust that You will send an angel to guard and protect her as she climbs up and down those bus steps that her feet will not stumble and she will be safe." As I prayed and gave thanks to God for his love and protection over her, I began to feel peace and the fear and worry went away.

As the weeks have passed, I have seen her confidence grow! There was one day when it was a different bus with a substitute driver. He had some things setting in her path when she got near the top of the bus steps and she stumbled backwards for a split second. I was ready to run to catch her, if needed. But there happened to be a 6^th grade girl right behind her and I watched her hold her hands out, ready to steady my niece if she started to fall. But she was able to hold on tight and get her balance and was just fine! It was as if God used that as an example to show me that my niece was going to be just fine and He was taking care of her.

Now, she is able to hold onto the rail and walk up those steps and no longer has to crawl up them. We have to walk next door to the bus stop and a few weeks ago if we saw the bus coming around the corner and she needed to hurry, she would say, "I'm not very fast," and want me to carry her. Now, she will run with the other kids. She doesn't run very fast, but she will run and not think that she's too slow. She no longer wants to hold onto my hand or have me hold her while waiting with all the other kids for the bus to come, but will confidently stand there and do it by herself.

I kind of miss having her hold my hand and want me beside her, but I know that she needs to learn to be self-sufficient and know her own strength and have confidence. I am proud of her!

Letting go can be difficult, because it means that perhaps someone is no longer reliant on you as much and is learning and growing. But it's for their own good and is needful. And we have to trust that God loves them much more than we ever could and whatever happens, they are in His care and under His protection.

There are many areas where we may struggle with surrendering and placing our trust fully in God. It may be in the area of finances or a job or a relationship or a child that is rebellious or a spouse that is sick or a devastating loss of some kind. We may try to hold on tightly to our own control, but we will never have peace until we surrender it to the Lord.

For a time, Jacob was unwilling to give up his control of protecting Benjamin and keeping him safely by his side; even though it meant that another son was being held in prison and that their food supply was dwindling. He was unwilling to listen to his older sons trying to reason with him and explain the seriousness of the situation. Not sending Benjamin would mean that he would lose all of his children and grandchildren to starvation and death; yet he held out as long as he could. Finally, he had to place his trust in God and be willing to trust his older sons to watch out for their younger brother. He had to let go of his control and say, "What happens, happens."

As a result, when his sons returned back home, they had good news for their father! Joseph was alive and well and was in a position of great authority. He had invited them to join him in Egypt, where they would have enough food during the remaining years of famine and be taken care of. Surrender of Benjamin meant reconciliation with Joseph.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

There are many stories in the Bible where a parent had to give up a child in one way or another. Loretta described Jacob giving up Benjamin to send him to Egypt, hoping God would bring him and his brothers back safely. Jacob's grandfather, Abraham had to take his son, Isaac, to be a sacrifice to God. He kept trusting God enough to say they would both come back. But he still obeyed up till an angel stopped him at the last second.

Moses's mother gave him up to whoever might find him in the river, whether it might be the Pharaoh's daughter (who was known to go there) or someone else.

There was also Hannah who had tried to have children, and when she finally had one, gave him to the prophet Eli to be raised for God. She continued making cloths for him and visiting him, but didn't get to raise him. He was Samuel, one of the most prominent prophets.

They all gave us foreshadowing of the most important case. Our Heavenly Father gave up his own Son on the cross. Even as far back as Adam and Eve, God revealed again and again that He knew He would one day give up Jesus to die to pay for all our sins. Jesus is with The Father now, so like the other cases, it wasn't a permanent loss, but He still gave Jesus up for us.

Compared to that, how could we refuse to give up unimportant things we cling to. Can't we give up some of our time? Or give up some of our pride? Or our money? It might not come back to us in the same way we give it up, but we will be blessed for letting go.

ON THE MENEWE:

Bean Dip

Mix refried beans and taco seasoning together; spread in a 10-inch baking dish.

Mix softened cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese together; drop by large spoonfuls all over the top of the bean mixture.

Cook in 350 oven for 5-10 minutes, then remove from oven. Take a table knife and cut through the mixture well, which mixes it all together.

Place back in oven and cook until cheese is well-melted.

Garnish with your choice of toppings: chopped green onions, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, etc.

Enjoy with tortilla chips or Fritos or Doritos.....

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

I get my nephews youngest two kids on the school bus in the mornings. The bus stops at the house next door and there are several who get on at that stop. I generally have the kids wait on the porch of their house until almost time for the bus. There are a couple girls, a kindergartener and 5^th grader, whose mom drops them off in the mornings. They have gravitated to me and as soon as they are dropped off, run over to where my nephew's kids and I are. A few days ago the oldest girl was so excited that she had got to bring her own lunch from home. She told me, "We finally got some good groceries at our house last night!" She then proceeded to tell me everything she had packed for her lunch and what her mom had put in her sister's lunch. I chuckled inside and thought, "I bet your mom would be embarrassed that you said you finally got good groceries!" I'm not sure if perhaps the mom had just gone grocery shopping or if she had bought groceries that her young daughters thought were "good".

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

If God is for us who can be against us? Romans 8:31

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org