famine.
Genesis 41 holds a transformation, plot-freaking-twist, part of the story of Joseph... and if I am honest, I expected to be filled from his story, but I didn't see this imagine coming for me.
If you don't know the story of Joseph, you should probably pick up your Bible and dive in. I have heard his story countless times...here are the beloved bullet points:
*Before you get all high and mighty and unloving towards Joseph's brothers, lets keep in mind that they are the sons of Leah and for their entire lives they not only saw their mother despised by their father, but he wasn't too loving towards them either...that might make anyone do something unloving and not kind like throw a brother in a pit and sell him into slavery...
The part of this story that struck me almost had nothing to do with Joseph's life story, but had everything to do with the dream that he interpreted for Pharaoh.
"After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin,came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke."
Yeah... that would wake me straight up too..
"And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears ofgrain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up theseven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream."
So Pharaoh calls for Joseph to come and interpret these odd dreams... and here is what Joseph sees -
"It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown toPharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plentythroughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe."
Egypt was about to go into a season of fruitfulness. A season that would appear simple and sweet and plentiful, but then it would go through a devastation season of famine. Death, hunger, dryness... these things would invade the land of Egypt, but God was giving them a glimpse now of what is to come, so that they would prepare appropriately.
He does the same for you and I.
Christ followers are promised hardship, and let's call it like it is, famine. Seasons of dryness. Where things look and feel abandoned and then dead. Seasons of hopelessness and drought, where you hit a rock bottom and you think to yourself "Will it ever get better?" "Do you even see me, God?" "Will you please just give me a drop of rain that I might live, because I really think this might kill me!?!"
When trials hit, when all seems lost, when we are in the midst of the famine, where can we turn? Because here is the thing with Egypt, ALL of Egypt was about to experience this pain. There was no going to a neighbor for a cup or sugar, because they were just as bad off as you. So what did they do? They stored up for seven years.
For seven years, the Egyptians stored up as much as they could. There was no frivolousness. They were given the seven years of fruitfulness that they might sustain in the seven years of famine. And when the famine came, their storehouses brought people from all around the earth who had been effected by the devastation.
Does this not sound familiar?
My friend, you will walk through devastation. You will walk through seasons of dryness, barrenness, hurt, depression, anger, sadness, loss, pain... you will walk through famine. But, you will not survive the famine if you are not storing up things in the fruitful seasons.
I am in a season where God is giving me GOLD! I feel like I am learning and experiencing so many things that are sweet and worth holding onto. The things He is teaching me in scripture, the promises He is giving me to hold onto... honestly some days I read the bible and I feel like I am soaring and He is giving so much, I am to store them up.
You and I can almost never know when famine is going to hit, so we MUST we MUST we MUST be faithful in the fruitfulness to store up the promises of God in our hearts, minds, and souls.
There are 2 things I pray my heart preaches and sings to the grave
If you don't know the story of Joseph, you should probably pick up your Bible and dive in. I have heard his story countless times...here are the beloved bullet points:
*Before you get all high and mighty and unloving towards Joseph's brothers, lets keep in mind that they are the sons of Leah and for their entire lives they not only saw their mother despised by their father, but he wasn't too loving towards them either...that might make anyone do something unloving and not kind like throw a brother in a pit and sell him into slavery...
- Joseph is born to Rachel, (everyone's favorite homegirl), and Jacob
- Joseph is daddy's favorite because he is Rachel's son
- Jacob gives Joseph a fancy colorful coat *hears Dolly Parton in head and pauses to sing for a moment*
- Joseph had a dream about his brothers bowing down to him... guess who wasn't supportive of that...
- Joseph's brothers throw him in a pit to die
- they change their minds and make a buck off him instead by selling him into slavery (Happy EndItMovement day by the way)
- Joseph found favor in the eye's of Potiphar, only because he first found favor in the eye's of God...grace
- Joseph is Potiphar's right hand man until Potiphar's wife gets man crazy and tries to seduce Joseph, gets caught, and flips the blame on Joseph
- Joseph is in jail...
- Joseph is in jail and interprets 2 dreams for other prisoner's and both interpretations are legit
- Pharaoh has a dream that he can't quite understand (haven't we all been there?) and tells the living ex-con who shared a cell with Joseph... and guess who finally remembered Joseph was still chillin' in jail..
- Pharaoh meets with Joseph, after Joseph experiences extreme makeover - prisoner edition.
The part of this story that struck me almost had nothing to do with Joseph's life story, but had everything to do with the dream that he interpreted for Pharaoh.
"After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin,came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke."
Yeah... that would wake me straight up too..
"And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears ofgrain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up theseven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream."
So Pharaoh calls for Joseph to come and interpret these odd dreams... and here is what Joseph sees -
"It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown toPharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plentythroughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe."
Egypt was about to go into a season of fruitfulness. A season that would appear simple and sweet and plentiful, but then it would go through a devastation season of famine. Death, hunger, dryness... these things would invade the land of Egypt, but God was giving them a glimpse now of what is to come, so that they would prepare appropriately.
He does the same for you and I.
Christ followers are promised hardship, and let's call it like it is, famine. Seasons of dryness. Where things look and feel abandoned and then dead. Seasons of hopelessness and drought, where you hit a rock bottom and you think to yourself "Will it ever get better?" "Do you even see me, God?" "Will you please just give me a drop of rain that I might live, because I really think this might kill me!?!"
When trials hit, when all seems lost, when we are in the midst of the famine, where can we turn? Because here is the thing with Egypt, ALL of Egypt was about to experience this pain. There was no going to a neighbor for a cup or sugar, because they were just as bad off as you. So what did they do? They stored up for seven years.
For seven years, the Egyptians stored up as much as they could. There was no frivolousness. They were given the seven years of fruitfulness that they might sustain in the seven years of famine. And when the famine came, their storehouses brought people from all around the earth who had been effected by the devastation.
Does this not sound familiar?
My friend, you will walk through devastation. You will walk through seasons of dryness, barrenness, hurt, depression, anger, sadness, loss, pain... you will walk through famine. But, you will not survive the famine if you are not storing up things in the fruitful seasons.
I am in a season where God is giving me GOLD! I feel like I am learning and experiencing so many things that are sweet and worth holding onto. The things He is teaching me in scripture, the promises He is giving me to hold onto... honestly some days I read the bible and I feel like I am soaring and He is giving so much, I am to store them up.
You and I can almost never know when famine is going to hit, so we MUST we MUST we MUST be faithful in the fruitfulness to store up the promises of God in our hearts, minds, and souls.
There are 2 things I pray my heart preaches and sings to the grave
- God is Good. He promises Good to me, no matter the season. Everything that He orchestrates and allows is for My good and His glory. He is good. He is good. He is good. Put it on my gravestone...
- That we have to preach gospel truth to our hearts every day. Days where we feel God near, we need gospel truth. Days where we feel like we are forgotten and can't breathe, if we mutter nothing else may it be that He is good. Speak gospel truth to your heart, until it believes it. Until you catch a glimpse of the glory of God and you start to believe that He is good...
You will not survive this life if you do not remember the Gospel, not matter what season you're walking through.
But notice that people from all around came to the storehouses... you were never made to keep your fruits to yourself. In fact, if you are doing that, I would dare say that you don't have fruit, maybe just artificial fruit snacks, and you can keep those to yourself..
You were meant to share the wealth, because it isn't yours to keep anyway! It is THE LORD who gives in the seasons of fruitfulness! That goodness DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU... actually - YOUR LIFE DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU AND IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU!
How selfish we are to look at a season of goodness and say "OH! Look what I have done! Don't. I. Shine." No. The goodness you store up was fully intended to not only keep you fueled to live, but for you to give life, that other's might see GOD - not you.
My friends, I don't know what kind of season you're walking through. I don't know if today felt like you were soaring, or if today felt like I should be your last, but I do know that the Lord is the master of our seasons, and there is a storehouse waiting for you to take from.
My Jesus is a well that never runs dry. An Eternal well of goodness and mercy. If you need to taste and see, come visit my storehouse, I will give you some goodness straight from Him, and teach you how to build a storehouse of your own.
(Joseph's story ends in a pretty God way... I would HIGHLY encourage you to read about my boy in Genesis.)
Store up, my friends, for you do not know what tomorrow will hold. But, thank God, He holds our tomorrow.
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