The best of everything will be ours

Genesis 45: 19-20

“You are also directed to tell them, ‘Do this:  Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come.  Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.’ “ NIV

I’m approaching the 1/3 point in my project. It is hard to believe that I already have found so many reminders not to worry and that there might be so many more.

Over the last four months, I’ve taken a variety of approaches to finding reminders, but, I’ve not spent much time using the Internet to find them.  I really enjoy looking through my two concordances and the two versions of the Bible that I’m consulting to find each day’s verse.

But, this morning, I went to a site my father had shared with me at the beginning of this process, and I plugged in the word, “worry,” (which does not appear in the King James version of the Bible even once) and I chose The Message translation.  The screen was immediately filled with verses, many of which I’ve already looked at, because the search engine started in Genesis, and, for the most part, I did, too.

But, here on that first page of the search results was Genesis 19-20. “Also tell them this: ‘Here’s what I want you to do:  Take wagons from Egypt to carry your little ones and your wives and load up your father and come back.  Don’t worry about having to leave things behind; the best in all of Egypt will be yours.’ “ MSG

These are Pharaoh’s instructions to Joseph about what he was to tell his brothers, once he had revealed his identity to them.

It was a relocation program.

Sometimes, moves are fun.  If you’re heading to an exciting new city for a great new job, and if someone else is doing all the packing, they can be fun … until you get to the unpacking part — which I always find difficult.

But, sometimes, even if you think that things will be better or different in the new place, it is hard to leave the familiar.

Pharaoh is very kind to say that the people shouldn’t worry about the things that they will leave behind, but, he says that through the lens of a king who has always had the best of his own land … he must have been thinking, “Egypt is really great … these people will absolutely love living here.”

But, this morning, my heart goes out to the those who had to move, especially the “little ones,” that Pharaoh references.  They left the only place that they had ever known for someplace new, and, I’m betting at least a few of them were worried about it.

Two children who are very dear to me are facing a move like this in the coming weeks, and they are reacting to it very differently.   One is excited about what will be, and the other is saddened to leave what has been.

Today, I am praying that their worries will be lessened and that they can have a full measure of excitement for what is to come, and that they will truly enjoy this next place that they will be living.

It strikes me, too, that we all will ultimately move.  We will leave this life for the next, and, Pharoah’s advice holds here, too.  We can’t worry about the things that we will leave behind.  Even though we might love things about this life, in the next life, the best of everything will be ours.

I will think about that today.