“Everything is against me” (Genesis 42:36).
Jacob had come to the end of his rope. He had lost Joseph. Simeon was
in jail in Egypt. Now, in order to free Simeon, Benjamin, his youngest
son would have to go to Egypt. It was more than Jacob could handle.
What Jacob could not see was years of preparation for what would be
the most exciting time of Jacob’s life and the life of a nation. The
darkest hour is the hour just before daybreak. Jacob was in his
darkest hour just before God’s daybreak in his life. God’s big picture
is often too big for us to comprehend. The heartaches don’t seem to
add up, but Jacob was about to understand the big picture.
Days later, Benjamin and the sons of Jacob learn that their brother
Joseph is second in command in Egypt. Joseph reveals his identity, and
Jacob is eventually reunited with his father whom he had not seen for
more than thirteen years. He had thought Joseph to be dead.
So often we believe our dreams are dead. There seems to be nothing
left in our world to live for. Everything appears to be against us. It
is during these times that God is doing His deepest “behind the
scenes” work. During these times, God is performing a deeper work in
each of us-a work that cannot be seen.
When clients began leaving my ad agency and it dried up for no
apparent reason, it appeared “everything was against me.” What I could
not see was that God was orchestrating a whole new calling on my life.
At the moment, it seemed like the worst thing in the world. It seemed
like I had been a failure. God said, “No.” All the years before had
been merely preparation for what God’s ultimate calling would be. One
of God’s methods of directing the steps of His children are through
the drying up of resources: a job loss, a career change, or a
disaster. It is in these times that we are willing to listen more
intently. And to seek God in ways we would not normally do. C.S. Lewis
once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our
conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a
deaf world.”