Luke 11:13
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The story of Joseph seems to be the story of our lives. As Joseph’s brothers did not recognize, and as they even despised the Heavenly Father’s workings in theirs and Joseph’s life, so we often do not recognize all the bounties of the Creator in our life through its divinely planned unfolding of events that seem to us oh so random.
Yeshua warned us of it. He said, “What father among you if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion (Luke 11:11-12)?"
Our Father’s ‘fish’ may look like ‘serpents’ and His eggs like scorpions. But no matter what happens, in spite of the turnout of events and relationship dynamics in our lives, we must always believe that Hashem is ultimately in control. We only see life through the limited lens of time and personal concerns. Abba on the contrary is the great Planner who sees the past, present and future of the whole world from the angle of the great eternal now. It is through that wider perspective that He orchestrates everything that happens, and our seeming ‘flukes’, tragedies, and disappointments often contribute to a greater purpose unseen by us (John 9:1-3).
As we process the events that daily affect and even afflict us, we must always remember what has been coined as the ‘God factor’. When we do, we automatically understand and liberate ourselves from the fear that falls upon us when we realize that we ultimately really have only very small control (if any) over anything that happens in our lives. When we do not live lives subjects to God, this realization usually dawns on us the hardest as we get ready to die.
Joseph, who also for a long time could not understand why his life seemed to unravel, finally understood Hashem’s purposes and told his brothers, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Genesis 50:20).
This agrees with the faith of our Master, of He who endured from sinners such hostility against himself (Hebrews 12:3) when He proclaims “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13”
May we learn today to discern the ‘good gifts’ of Hashem in our lives even when they look like ‘snakes’ or ‘scorpions’.
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The story of Joseph seems to be the story of our lives. As Joseph’s brothers did not recognize, and as they even despised the Heavenly Father’s workings in theirs and Joseph’s life, so we often do not recognize all the bounties of the Creator in our life through its divinely planned unfolding of events that seem to us oh so random.
Yeshua warned us of it. He said, “What father among you if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion (Luke 11:11-12)?"
Our Father’s ‘fish’ may look like ‘serpents’ and His eggs like scorpions. But no matter what happens, in spite of the turnout of events and relationship dynamics in our lives, we must always believe that Hashem is ultimately in control. We only see life through the limited lens of time and personal concerns. Abba on the contrary is the great Planner who sees the past, present and future of the whole world from the angle of the great eternal now. It is through that wider perspective that He orchestrates everything that happens, and our seeming ‘flukes’, tragedies, and disappointments often contribute to a greater purpose unseen by us (John 9:1-3).
As we process the events that daily affect and even afflict us, we must always remember what has been coined as the ‘God factor’. When we do, we automatically understand and liberate ourselves from the fear that falls upon us when we realize that we ultimately really have only very small control (if any) over anything that happens in our lives. When we do not live lives subjects to God, this realization usually dawns on us the hardest as we get ready to die.
Joseph, who also for a long time could not understand why his life seemed to unravel, finally understood Hashem’s purposes and told his brothers, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Genesis 50:20).
This agrees with the faith of our Master, of He who endured from sinners such hostility against himself (Hebrews 12:3) when He proclaims “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13”
May we learn today to discern the ‘good gifts’ of Hashem in our lives even when they look like ‘snakes’ or ‘scorpions’.
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