Kept by God | Genesis 47

Like, Jacob understood something that many people spend their entire lives trying to avoid, that this world was not, their ultimate home. That's why even after experiencing the prosperity of Egypt, even after seeing God's provision, even after gaining possessions and security, Jacob still says, hey, don't don't bury me here, like, take me to the promised land. Why? Because his hope was never in Egypt. It wasn't in comfort. It wasn't in prosperity. It wasn't in his possessions. It wasn't in extended years. His hope was in the promises of God. [01:13:33] (41 seconds)  #NotOfThisWorldHope

Genesis 47 reminds us that the same God who cared for Jacob in famine, the same God who preserved his people through uncertainty, the same God who remained faithful in the face of death is the same God who remains faithful to his people today. The God of Genesis 47 is still keeping his people and fulfilling his promises. He is still kind, he still provides, he still guides, he is still faithful to his promises, and by the grace of God, he still, one day, will welcome us home. [01:15:00] (39 seconds)  #GodFaithfulThroughAges

That is not the picture of the blessed life in the bible. In fact, there are times in scripture when the blessed life looks the exact opposite of what we hoped it would look like. Verse eight of Genesis chapter 47, and pharaoh said to Jacob, how many are the days of the years of your life? Right? And Jacob said to pharaoh, the days of the years of my sojourning are a hundred and thirty years. And this is what he says about his life, few and evil have been the days of the years of my life and they have not attained to the days of the years of my life of my father's and the days of their sojourning. [00:49:39] (55 seconds)  #BlessedDoesntMeanEasy

So remember, God made a promise to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. God was gonna bless them. Like, they were gonna not just be a great family, but a great nation. He's gonna bless their socks off. People who bless them, they would be blessed. People who they blessed, they would be blessed as well. Like, that that was the setup. Right? And so we read that God's hand was on Jacob. He was blessed by God, and Jacob lived a hard life. He did not live an easy life. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and there are there are times in your life and in my life when we are blessed by god, but being blessed by god does not look the way that we want it to look. [00:50:33] (55 seconds)  #BlessedButHardLife

Isn't that amazing? I mean, you you think about world leaders, those in positions of authority, the decision makers in the world. And the bible says that the king's heart, the president's heart, the congressmen, women, they are guided and directed by the sovereign hand of God. God is so kind to his people. A kindness in the old testament, there's an old, Hebrew word that's used to describe it. It is the word chesed, and it and it literally means God's loving kindness. [00:43:05] (44 seconds)  #SovereignHeartsChesed

Genesis chapter 47 is not a passage about the economy. It is not a a picture of economics or tax policies. It's not even a master class on leadership delivered by Joseph himself. Now, this chapter is about, God's kindness, toward a people in the middle of a hard and difficult world. It's a picture of a god who provides daily bread in the midst of famine. It is a story about a god who makes promises, and then keeps those promises from one generation to the next. [00:36:07] (48 seconds)  #KindGodInHardTimes

And that's still the tension that we live in today. We we are grateful for the for the good gifts that God gives to us. We are grateful that we get to enjoy meals with family and that we get to laugh with friends, that we get to build a home, or that we get to work jobs, or save money, or make plans, or enjoy the sunset, or the beauty, the kindness of God. But eventually, life reminds us that even the best things are just temporary, and somewhere deep inside us is an ache for something more permanent, something that will last. That ache is not accidental. It is pointing us home. [01:14:14] (46 seconds)  #LongingPointsHome

I should point out in case we need a reminder that being blessed by God, being chosen by God, being one who's being one who's who God has his hand on doesn't always look the way that you or I might think it looks. You know, sometimes when we talk about being blessed by God, we think more often than not, what that means and what that looks like is that we experience the life that we long for. Right? Think of the picture of your friend on the beach, nails painted, toes in the sand, holding the drink with a little umbrella in it, hashtag blessed. [00:48:44] (47 seconds)  #BlessingLooksDifferent