Fear or Faith

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

FEAR OR FAITH

Gen 43:15-25

15 So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare dinner; they are to eat with me at noon." 17 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph's house. 18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, "We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys." 19 So they went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20 "Please, sir," they said, "we came down here the first time to buy food. 21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver — the exact weight — in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. 22 We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks." 23 "It's all right," he said. "Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver." Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The steward took the men into Joseph's house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. 25 They prepared their gifts for Joseph's arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.

NIV

Although we are in the middle or close to the end of this exchange between Joesph and his brothers, we have to stop and ponder on the teaching of Jesus. These brothers are racked with fear. Are they trying to justify their behavior regarding the silver, or attempting to do the right thing. Had they sinned against Joseph in some way? Did they do no wrong, and were they, righteous men. It appears they did not mention their God and their path of righteousness before Him to the steward, but it was the Steward who brought up their God. However, it was fear in their hearts that brings us to our lesson. Sixty-nine times throughout the scriptures we are instructed, “Do not be afraid”, with the teaching of Jesus telling his disciples, and us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Of course, these brothers did not have the words of Jesus, nor did they have the Psalms of David when he wrote about trusting in God and because of that what could men do to him. However, these brothers had the knowledge of their God, the history of their father Jacob, grandfather, Isaac, and great-grandfather, Abraham, and their faith in God. They knew the story about Isaac, the altar on Mt Moriah, and God providing the Ram. Yet, fear gripped them because of one man, but the servant of Joseph tells them, “Don’t be afraid, your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks”. An Egyptian reminds them of the God of their father who should have given them comfort, but we wonder if that was true. Let us always be aware of our God and the treasure we have in our sacks, or we could say in our homes, our lives, and our hearts. We have been given the treasure of the Holy Spirit, so far beyond all the silver in this world that He cannot even be compared to earthly treasure. We worship the Living God and have his presence with us. He shines a light on our path for His purpose in and for our lives. What do we have to fear? Nothing for He is our shield, our fortress, our refuge, or help in ever-present trouble. How can faith and fear co-exist? Once again, we come to the truth that because we are people of faith we live with no fear. It comes down to fear of men or faith in God.