READING: Genesis 41-43
“Why do you keep looking at each other?”
Genesis 42:1
Let me start this devotion with a simple but true statement: sometimes, the inactivity of God’s people is hard to believe.
I was reminded of that truth as I read today’s story of the Jacob’s family trying to survive in a time of great famine. The problem was a severe—and obvious—one, as evidenced by the repetition of the scriptures:
- “there was famine in every land” (Gen. 41:54)
- “the whole land of Egypt was stricken with famine” (Gen. 41:55)
- “now the famine had spread across the whole region” (Gen. 41:56)
- “the famine was severe in the land of Egypt” (Gen. 41:56)
- “the famine was severe in every land” (Gen. 41:57)
So great was the famine that only Joseph’s wise stewardship of previous years of harvest provided any food at all. He had kept the food in storehouses, and “every land came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain” (Gen. 41:57). Every land, though, apparently didn’t include Jacob’s family, as evidenced in Jacob’s question to his sons: “When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, ‘Why do you keep looking at each other?'” (Gen. 42:1). It is not clear what the brothers were doing when they could have been finding food for their family, but they were seemingly passive in a growing crisis. Their inactivity made little sense to their father.
Lest we judge the brothers too harshly, however, I wonder if God might ever want to say to us, “Why do you keep looking at each other?”
Does He consider that question when the world is dying lost around us but we do little about it? When needed ministry positions remain unfilled even while we love hanging out together? When calls for prayer result in no more intercession? When hungry people live on our streets while we share meals with each other? When our pastors challenge us to get involved, but we wait for others to take on the tasks? Sometimes, our inactivity in a dark world is inconceivable.
ACTION STEPS:
- Whatever you know you need to do for God today, do it. The crisis of lostness around us demands our obedience.
- Be prayerfully wise today as you think about and prepare for the future. Learn from Joseph.
PRAYER: “Father, I don’t want to just stand around. I commit myself to follow You fully.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Genesis 44-46