Don't Just Stand There, Do Something!

Picking up from our previous thoughts on Joseph, the famine is still in full force and it was fierce for the people in Egypt. It was so severe that it had also spread to the land of Canaan. Take a guess at who lived in the land of Canaan….

Any ideas?

Joseph’s dad, Jacob.

Joseph’s brothers, the very brothers that had years before sold him into slavery.

They all lived together in Canaan. Jacob and his family were hungry and Jacob had heard a rumor. And the rumor was true!

There was food in Egypt!

Music to Jacob’s ears.

Genesis 42: 1-2

When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise, we’ll die.”

Can you imagine what good news this was for Jacob to hear? He had the weight of responsibility for his entire family on his shoulders. I’m sure he could not bear the thought of watching his little grandchildren starve and losing them to this famine. His heart must have broke every day. I am sure hope glimmered in his tired old eyes when he heard there was food in Egypt. The closest thing I have experienced that I could compare this to was finding out there was a generator available or a power truck close by during the ice storm of 2009! I’m sure many of you who live near by can relate!

It was utter desperation. Their lives were on the line.

Jacob says in verse 1, “Why are you standing around looking at one another?” I think I sense a little urgency here, he wanted those boys of his on their way to get food in Egypt before it was all gone, and they weren’t moving fast enough. Jacob knew how terrible it would be to know there was food within their reach only to miss out on the opportunity and starve anyway. I have to tell you, I’m not trying to be disrespectful of God’s Word here, but these verses remind me of scenes from Dukes of Hazzard where Boss Hogg can’t get Rosco P. Coltraine out from under his feet fast enough. “Don’t just stand there, do something!”, he’d growl, fearful that the Duke boys would get away AGAIN!

How crazy to not go after that grain – and go QUICKLY!

I mean quickly – faster than the dash in Wal-Mart on Black Friday.

Quickly.

My question for you today –

Where can you go and go quickly for spiritual food?

Food to feed your family.

Food to feed your very own soul.

Don’t misunderstand my heart as I say this, I ask the same question of myself,  - but, as Jacob said, “Why are you standing around looking at one another?”

Why aren’t we moving QUICKLY to get it? We move quickly to get our hands on anything else we want.

I can not stand around in this same old place expecting to be filled if there is nothing for my soul to feast on,  it is up to me to listen to my Father and go out in search for that food to bring back to those around me. Quickly.

There are people around us who are starving to death, spiritually.

So, I ask again – Where are you going to go looking for food today? I would love to hear some of your favorite places to feast in order to nourish a hungry soul.


Oh God, I am so obese on things of this world and so spiritually malnourished. How this must break Your heart to see me in such a state. Father, point me in the direction You have for me so that I may feast upon what You have prepared and bring some back for those around me. You call us to more than just sitting around waiting for grain to grow in a land where there is spiritual famine. Unsettle me, God. That’s hard to pray, it’s scary to pray, but I ask You to unsettle me. If I am unsettled, I will search. I don’t want to starve.  I don't want my family to starve.  I don't want my friends to starve.


Oh, and by the way, they got their food, and then some! More tomorrow…..




Royal Princess Daughter Of The King