PROBLEM CENTERED
GENESIS 42:36
“And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. “
Jacob made the statement, “all these things are against me,” when Simeon was kept captive in Egypt. He remembered that Joseph had been taken from him in earlier years, now a second son lost to him, and the threat of the loss of a third son.
Jacob recalled his troubles past and present, even the prospect of future troubles, but he did not recall the deliverances of a faithful God. He had also forgotten God’s promises to him, as we often do in times of difficulty. He was problem-centered not God-centered. He did not see God in all the circumstances of his life. Believers must always realize that God has promised to “work all things” for our good, for our eternal good. And God will keep His promises to us, for He cannot lie. God has a holy purpose in mind as He works “all things for our good,” which is to ‘conform us into the image of His Son.’ (Romans 8:28-29).
Not the least of Jacob’s troubles was the famine in the landof Canaan; this had caused the journey into Egyptto get grain, and was still prevailing.
Troubles come into our lives for three possible reasons. One is that we are a part of a fallen race in Adam; man’s days are few and full of trouble, and they come because we bring them on by disobedience; God is chastening His child in love, and still another reason for trouble is to purify us; God puts us in the refiner’s fire to bring us out more pure and useful for His glory. We must remember that God is with us in all of our trouble. We must keep in mind that God is more interested in making us holy than He is making us happy, or even healthy.
It is interesting and very significant that God was working ‘behind the scenes’ to bring about a great blessing in Jacob’s life, one he could not imagine. God was going to give his beloved son, Joseph, back to him and he would spend the rest of his life on earth with him in Egypt. Truly He “is able to do exceeding, abundantly, above, all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” (Ephesians 3:20). God is still in all the circumstances of our lives; He is working all things for our eternal good, and daily conforming us into the image of His Son. He is working behind the scenes of our lives, to work into them blessings we have not thought of, we must trust Him and diligently attend to our duty that he has put into our hands. Let us never be problem-centered, but God-centered, seeing God’s hand in all the circumstances of our lives, for He will deliver us from our troubles or give us strength to endure them. He is a faithful God.
Under His Wings,
January 22, 2012