GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD!

In Pharaoh's court stood Jacob — an old man of 130 years of age — and Joseph, his lost son, rushed to embrace him. As it turned out, Joseph was second in command over all of Egypt. Everywhere Jacob went with his son — in the palace, through the streets in his chariot — people bowed to Joseph in respect and awe (see Genesis 46 and 47).

When Pharaoh asked Jacob how old he was, he answered, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been" (Genesis 47:9). The Hebrew reads, "Few and sorrowful have my days been." In short: "I've seen a lot of suffering."

Yet, was it worth it? Yes, absolutely! Jacob and his family had been delivered from the famine. All seventy members of his clan were now safe from harm, planted in the richest farmland in Egypt. Jacob's son was on the throne and they had all the food they could eat.

Jacob — a man with a contrite heart — could look back and say, "When my brother Esau threatened me, it seemed my life was over but God brought me out. My Lord was there the whole time. When Laban tried to destroy me, God blessed and delivered me. Furthermore, the Lord delivered my wife, Rachel, and my family from the perils of idolatry.

"I was victorious over all my enemies. None of them ever rose up to challenge me. I lived to see my seed multiply and prosper — the beginnings of a great nation. I lived to walk in the midst of my grandchildren, even my great-great-grandchildren. And now my sons will be the patriarchs of Israel, leaders over their own tribes. Not a word God told me in the beginning has ever failed. My Lord has kept His every word to me."

And, beloved, so will He be with us today!