“Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased in number.”
~ Genesis 47:27
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever thought ‘what if’? Your grandpaa sometimes has thought ‘what if’. You are going to have lives filled with ‘what ifs’. Your grandpaa thinks of a ‘what if’ as suddenly having come to a life crossroad that will lead to something taking place that totally belies coincidence and which could only have been divinely orchestrated. An occurrence that took place that belies coincidence to your grandpaa is an occurrence that took place outside a normal life trajectory. Your grandmaa grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. Your grandpaa grew up in Volga, South Dakota. Wilmington, Delaware is a long ways away from Volga, South Dakota. A normal life trajectory for your grandmaa forty-one years ago should not have had your grandmaa going to Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. Most of the students at Dordt College forty-one years ago had a dad and ma who had Dutch heritage. Most of the students at Dordt College forty-one years ago were from Christian Reformed Churches. Your grandpaa’s dad and ma attend a Christian Reformed Church while your grandmaa’s dad and ma attended an Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The heritage of your grandpaa’s dad and ma is one hundred percent Dutch while your grandmaa’s dad and ma did not have Dutch heritage. After your grandmaa graduated from high school, your grandmaa was urged by her ma to go to a Christian college. Your grandmaa’s ma had your grandmaa ask the pastor of the church that she attended – which was the Wilmington Orthodox Presbyterian Church, to recommend a Christian college that she might like to attend. Your grandmaa’s pastor knew about Dordt College. If your grandmaa’s pastor had never heard of Dordt College, your grandmaa would never have had Dordt College recommended as a Christian college that she might like to attend. If your grandmaa had not been encouraged by her pastor and her ma to go to Dordt College, the likelihood of your grandpaa ever meeting your grandmaa would have been nil without God the Father having a plan already in place that He was orchestrating for a kid who grew up on farm outside of Volga, South Dakota to meet a gal whose home in Wilmington, Delaware was about 1400 miles away. So – ‘what if’ your grandmaa had not been convinced to go to Dordt College – would there be a James and Ellen today? Your grandpaa thinks not.
Another ‘what if’ is when Beneficial Finance asked your grandpaa to transfer to Aberdeen, South Dakota to be the manager of their loan office that is in Aberdeen. Your grandpaa’s transfer to Aberdeen by Beneficial Finance has all kinds of ‘what ifs’ coming together. Your dad’s Uncle Sam had been in the navy. When your dad’s Uncle Sam’s ship docked in Norfolk, Virginia, your dad’s Uncle Sam would take a bus to visit your grandmaa and grandpaa who were living in Delaware. On his first trip from Norfolk to visit your grandmaa and grandmaa, your dad’s Uncle Sam met a gal who lived next door to your grandmaa’s ma’s house and . . . your dad’s Uncle Sam when he got out of the navy decided to study at Northern State College in Aberdeen, South Dakota on the G.I. Bill. When your grandpaa was asked by Beneficial Finance to transfer to Aberdeen to manage their loan office there, your dad’s Uncle Sam and Aunt Carolyn were already living in Aberdeen. Your grandpaa called his bro to ask him if he could recommend a church in Aberdeen where he thought that your grandmaa and grandpaa would enjoy. Your grandpaa’s bro told your grandpaa that he had heard that the Aberdeen Christian and Missionary Alliance Church would possibly be a good church to attend. A couple of months after your grandmaa and grandpaa had settled into a house in Aberdeen, your grandpaa decided to visit the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Aberdeen. As your grandpaa was leaving the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, your grandpaa was asked by one of the gals to sign the church’s guestbook. Several weeks later Delores Arbieter and Harriet Haak – two of the gals who attended the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church that is in Aberdeen, visited your grandmaa. After your grandpaa’s first visit to the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Aberdeen, your grandpaa really had no desire to ever go back there again but after Delores and Harriet spent a couple of hours visiting with your grandmaa . . . so – ‘what if’ your grandpaa had not accepted a transfer request, had not called his bro, had not done what his bro suggested and had not signed a guestbook, do you think that your grandmaa and grandpaa would ever have experienced all the blessings of a missionary vocation? Your grandpaa thinks not.
Genesis 47 is filled with the results of a ‘what if’. The setting for this chapter is in Egypt. There is a terrible famine in Egypt. Because of a dream warning of a seven year famine, grain has been stockpiled to be eaten during the famine. The famine has also affected the land which God had promised His specially chosen guys and gals through their patriarchs – Abraham and Isaac, that they would always have to live in as their very own land. The leader of Egypt at this time is a Pharaoh. Egypt’s leader – the Pharaoh, has a right hand guy who he has given the responsibility to stockpile enough grain to make it through seven years of famine. The Pharaoh’s right hand guy who the Pharaoh totally trusted is not an Egyptian. The name of the Pharaoh’s right hand guy is Joseph. Joseph is one of the sons of Israel or Jacob. ‘What if’ Joseph’s jealous bros had not sold Joseph to nomadic merchants who were going to Egypt who sold Joseph to . . . Verse 27 says “Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased in number.” There are no ‘what ifs’ in God’s divine plan that He is continuously unfolding. Be prepared for God sovereignty to take you through implausible times, too.
Genesis 47 (277)