A Jacob Experience, Part 3: The prosperity

Last week and this week, I have been sharing what I have been learning from Jacob’s story in the Bible. I just love how God makes his word come alive and speak to us in every season. This story gives me hope and encouragement. It reminds me that no matter how things seem in the natural, we are precious and valued in God’s eyes. He is working it out, even when we cannot see it with our physical eyes.

The first two parts of the story can be found here and here.

In this post, we pick up the Jacob story in Genesis 42:36, at the moment when it seems that everything against him.

Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

Genesis 42:36

In the natural, Jacob had come to his end. There was no way he could provide for his family during the great famine that was across the land without sending his sons back to Egypt and risking the life of his youngest son. There was no additional plan or scheme he could put together as an alternative to going down to Egypt. This was a new place, a new level where only God could walk him through.

Jacob has now learned that he needs to involve God in his plans. Earlier on, he wrestled with God and saw him face to face, and yet his life was spared (Genesis 32: 24–30). To prepare for the journey back to Egypt, he now asks his 10 remaining sons to pack the best produce of the land, and double portions of the silver they had initially gone to Egypt with. Most importantly, as he makes these plans, he asks God to lead. He prays that God may cause the ‘Lord of Egypt’ to have mercy on his sons so that they can all come back unharmed.

“May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

Genesis 43:14

One lesson I learn here is the need to fully trust God, without having other back-up plans. Jacob was ready to lose his sons if God did not come through for him. That, for me, is another faith level. It is a higher level of faith that I can only compare to stepping off a cliff, and trusting that God will either catch you or give you wings to fly.

I pray that I may truly learn to trust and keep moving forward to fulfill God’s plan, even when moving forward feels like jumping off a cliff.

The other lesson I learn here is that often what seems to be the most difficult path is the one that leads to true prosperity.

After being released by their father, Jacob’s son went back to Egypt. After a very interesting dinner with the ‘Lord of Egypt’ and a staged theft (Genesis 43:15 – Genesis 44:33), they discover that this ‘Lord’ was their long-lost and presumed dead brother Joseph. Joseph then sent them back to their father with provisions, and instructions to come and live in Egypt where there was more than enough food.

I like to imagine the look on Jacob’s face when his sons came back with the good news that Joseph, the 12th son who was presumed dead, was not only alive but was second only to Pharaoh in the most prosperous nation at the time. The Bible says that he was stunned, and did not believe them, but when he saw everything that Joseph sent, his spirit was revived.

They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

Genesis 45:26-27

When what God has in store for us is revealed, it revives our spirits. A revived spirit is a sign of prosperity. A revived spirit is a testament that our hope in God is not in vain. It renews our strength and we soar like Eagles.

God crafted a divine plan to prosper Jacob and his family, saving them from famine by sending Joseph to Egypt ahead of them. As Jacob was on his way to Egypt, God appeared to him and shared the grand plan that was now unfolding:

“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

Genesis 46:3-4

When we enter the season of prosperity, God reveals a bigger portion of the plan

God revealed to Jacob that through his descendants, a great nation would be formed, and this nation would come back to the promised land.

This is how great God’s love is for us. When we learn to fully trust and walk with him, he starts to reveal his plans to us. When we know his plans, we start to rise in Christ, and our lives start demonstrating true riches. Riches like peace of mind, wisdom, and divine foresight. We become a blessing and a beacon of hope to those around us while experiencing a calm, stillness, and clarity of purpose within us that can only be divine. God gifts us with strategies and plans that can positively influence this world, and draw more people to him.

I find it amazing that God wants to confide in me and make his plans known to me. He wants us to know what he knows, that we may have that quiet confidence and assurance in him.

The Lord confides in those who fear [respect] him; he makes is covenant known to them.

Psalms 25:14

Like Jacob at this stage of the story, may I be found fully trusting and walking with God. When we seek God first, all other things are added to us. Jacob trusted God to keep his sons safe as they went to find food in Egypt. This ultimately resulted in him and his entire family moving to Egypt and becoming exceedingly prosperous. Not only did God give Jacob material wealth, but his descendants also multiplied and became the great nation we know, the Israelites.

God wants us to prosper above and beyond what we can think or imagine. He came that we may have life, and have it in abundance. If we walk with him, he will enable us to grow and bear fruit in the season of prosperity, as he did for Jacob.

In the last part of this story, coming at the end of the week, I will share my learnings from this story on how this season of prosperity is linked to God’s eternal plan for mankind.

In the meantime, stay blessed and always remember that God loves you 😊