Learn to Want

Love for One Another Struggles with Love Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)    God Rewards Obedience Genesis 41:14-24 New International Version 14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it.But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” 17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up. 22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”   For Reflection Joseph had suffered at the hands of his brothers and under the Pharoah's fist. But Joseph's obedience to his faith had never declined. When summoned by the Pharoah, he honored God by denying his power to interpret dreams.  The dreams illustrated the relationship between times of plenty and times of want. The visions showed the need to save for less plentiful times. More importantly, it taught that one does not always live in times of affluence. It is wise to keep resources aside for times that stressed one's ability to live comfortably or even survive. During these times of pandemic, our comfortable lives have been turned upside down. We have had to learn how to live in times of want, want of health, want of economic security, want of fellowship, and want of hope.  Pray Pray so that you can find hope in the face of suffering. Pray so that you can learn how to survive and perhaps thrive in times of distress. Forward to a friend