Opportunity to Trust {DWITW 365}
Sometimes opportunity is a reward for hard earned efforts. Other times it comes as a shocking and incomprehensible surprise. It can make us squeal with delight, or it can cause us to squirm with discomfort. But there is one thing opportunity never does. It never leaves us the same.
Our reading this week gives us the privilege of a bird’s eye view on the topic of opportunity: Moses’ opportunity to participate in something bigger than himself, the Israelites’ opportunity to step out in faith (quite literally), and Pharoah’s opportunity to learn that there is only one true God. However, these are only the “famous” opportunities awaiting us within these chapters. While I was reading this week’s section of Scripture, I almost overlooked a lesser known opportunity in my haste to get to the “good stuff.” But something about it called to my heart. Perhaps it’s because it resonated deeply with something I’ve recently experienced.
Before I get too far ahead, let me review. At the end of Genesis 45, we saw Joseph (once sold into slavery by his brothers, but had since risen to be a ruler in Egypt) reveal his identity to his brothers who came from Canaan seeking relief from a terrible famine. Joseph loaded them up with provisions for both the journey home as well as the journey back with their families and their father, Jacob. When Jacob learned his son Joseph was not only alive, but also a ruler in Egypt, his heart became numb. He was so shocked and surprised by the news, he couldn’t believe it. At the close of the chapter, Jacob in his old age was being provided an all expense paid trip to Egypt with untold delight and surprise awaiting. And that is where this opportunity began.
“And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.””
When I read these verses leading up to Genesis 46, my heart stopped short. Just a few days prior I learned that my husband and I won an all-expense paid trip to Cape Town, South Africa. We would be boarding a plane in less than ten days to travel on a tour with a group of strangers. As I watched the live drawing on Facebook, I prayed: “Lord, if You want us on this trip for divine purposes of Your own -- for the furtherance of your Kingdom -- may our names be drawn.” Seconds later, our name was drawn.
Opportunity! Delight! Squeals of joy! (You should have heard me!) I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wanted us on this trip. Even if our plane crashed into the ocean, I knew we were in the center of His will. But then, much like we read in Genesis 46:1-4, shock and wonderment morphed into worry.
Perhaps Jacob was worried he would not survive the trip to Egypt, and all this good news would be for naught. Perhaps he felt insecure leaving his home to live in a new place among a different culture. While we don’t know the specifics behind his worry, we see God spoke to him in a vision at night saying, “Jacob! Jacob!... I am the God of your father...Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt… for I will go down to Egypt with you…and Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes” (v. 2-4).
While my opportunity was much different, I found myself standing in Jacob’s shoes. “Lord, what if I mess this up? What if I don’t represent you well, and instead of drawing people to you, I repel them? What if we get the flu that’s going around and can’t make the trip? What if. . .“ Interestingly, I took all the pressure of success, performance and outcome on my own shoulders. And did it help? No. Absolutely not. Just six days prior to flying, my husband came down with a bad respiratory flu. “Lord,” I cried out, “You want us on this trip, so You’re just going to have to work this out.” He did. My husband made a miraculous recovery and was perfectly healthy two days before flying out, and the Lord kept me from getting it!
“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid. . .”
But that same day a snow storm came, threatening to ground our next day flight to New York to catch the plane to Africa. “Lord, I know you want us on this trip. This is Your problem to work out!” We followed the weather reports closely, and before going to bed the night before leaving, we saw the weather pattern being diverted. We received only a fraction of the snow and ice predicted, and by the time our flight was scheduled to board all the runways were cleared and the sun was shining. Only God. Opportunity to trust.
Not only did I have to trust God with the logistical details of this opportunity, I had to trust Him with the emotional and personal ones too. I wasn’t being called to reflect my own light; I was being called to reflect His. And He would just have to work His love and light in and through me. And you know what? He did just that -- once I gave Him the opportunity to work. My heart is full with stories of hearts He stirred, lives He touched, and conversations He was in the midst of. It would take a dedicated post just to recount the half of it.
There’s one last opportunity I forgot to mention from the beginning. This tour group was comprised of Orthodox Jews which happens to be a dedicated people group in the world we committed to pray for (our Affinity Block with Apex Community Church). Only God could orchestrate such an opportunity.
As you read this week, look for moments of “opportunity to trust” in the text and ask God to show you those moments in your own day. They come in all shapes and sizes.
Jackie Perseghetti wants to live in a world where every human realizes they are walking wounded and in need of God’s grace. Her heart is to be God’s person at God’s time in the life of another and she looks for God-given moments to breathe life and encouragement. When Jackie is not going on adfuntures with her hubby (adventure with fun at the center) or teaching drums or the art of papercrafting, you can find her digging in her garden, storytelling to her grandkids, or sharing the stirrings of her heart at www.smallstepsintofreedom.wordpress.com She takes great comfort in her favorite Bible verses: Isaiah 41:10 and Isaiah 46:4.