Genesis 42:36: ‘When all things seems against me…’

“36 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!’” NIV

You can understand Jacob exclaiming, ‘’Everything is against me!’’ That was pretty much how it looked. He was now an old man. He had suffered loss upon loss in his later years, and he couldn’t face another. He felt backed into a corner. It can be like this for you and me too. In the middle of your story – even two thirds the way through – everything may appear bleak; the clouds have come down and you can’t see the way. But it’s not the end of the story.

Because we know more than Jacob at this point, we are aware that everything was not against him. Behind the ‘frowning providence’ there was a ‘smiling face’. There was a big picture drama unfolding, and it concerned saving a lot of people. It was about more than one person.

There may come times where you feel that everything is against you. But the truth will always be that:

’…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’’ (Romans 8:28).

Even in the mess Jacob was facing (some of it of his own making), a greater purpose was being worked out. At the time, Jacob could only see the tangled threads at the back of the tapestry, but he would eventually get to see the other side, as will we all.