Be a blessing!

Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers:’ Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh. (verses 7-10)

Read Genesis 47:1-21

Joseph brings his father before Pharaoh. Pharaoh asks him his age. Jacob’s reply is honest, “One hundred and thirty, and my years have been few and difficult.” Yet we are all here like a vapour in the wind. Like grass that springs up and withers and dies. Life is short. Life can be hard at times as well, as it was for Joseph and Jacob. However, nothing shook their faith in the living God, the ancient of days who lives forever. And we, like them, in spite of the difficulties we face, don’t face it alone when we are in Christ! Jacob ends the conversation with Pharaoh and ‘blesses’ him.

Friend, sometimes your hard times can turn out to be blessings you grow and learn from, so in turn you can be a blessing!

When has a tough time turned out to be a blessing in your life?

Thank you, Father God, for the blessings you have given me. Help me in turn to be a blessing to others. Amen.

by Dean Mills, in ‘Time Out with the Shepherd’  (ACR, Australian Church Resources, 2017)

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