The Promise Follows YOU too!
By Rev. William Dohle
Its hard to believe, but I am somewhat of a travel-bug. In my 37 years of life, I have lived in nine different states. Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Minnesota, and now, Illinois. I have moved some eighteen times, lived in that many residences. Everything from a little apartment, a trailer, a dorm room, and three houses. I have boxed my things up more times than I care to admit. And lived out of a suitcase on more than one occasion.
Traveling is fun. It's cool to meet new people and see new places.
But the one question I always get. The one that I have a hardest time answering is perhaps the simplest one of all...
"Where is home for you?"
That question has haunted me on most of my travels since leaving home. Where is home?
I use to say that home was Utah. "Utah!?" they'd say. "Why aren't you Mormon?"
Then I'd have to explain that Utah wasn't really HOME...it was just where I grew up. It was where my parents and my siblings all live.
"Ahh," they'd say. "So...where is home for you then?"
Home is really hard to define, especially when you've lived in so many places. Is it the place you grew up? Or the place you spent most of your time growing up? Is it where your parents reside or where your siblings still live? Is it the place that you go to when you're in trouble? Or the place that you call when you need someone to talk to? Is it where your family is? Or where your kids are?
Since having kids, myself, I have received that question less. Perhaps because kids make my home stable. Home is where the kids are. But I still wrestle with that question, especially living as a nomad out here in the midwest while my parents and siblings all reside in the intermountain western United States. Where is home? There or here?
That is the question I think Jacob was pondering as he was packing up for Egypt. You see, Jacob had by this time already received God's promised land. He was living in Israel. His kids all had grown up there. The well his family would have for generations to come had already been dug. Jacob was set.
But then this nasty famine struck and his sons all went to Egypt for more grain and then they found Joseph, Jacob's lost son, and then came the request: "Come on Dad! Move to Egypt!"
I can only imagine what was going through Jacob's head at the time. "What? Move? Are you kidding? We're living in the PROMISED land! The land that God swore to grandpa and dad and me! This is our land! We're not going anywhere! We can't leave God's promise!"
Perhaps these thoughts are what prompted God to visit Jacob. God, so far throughout the last few chapters of Genesis, has been relatively quiet. We haven't heard a peep out of him since before Joseph's story began. But here God comes with a message for Jacob in God's typical fashion.
"Jacob... Jacob! Get up and go, Jacob!"
"But God," Jacob says. "You said that this was the promised land that I'm standing in. Why should I leave?"
"Don't you think my promise can travel? Besides, no one said what that promised land thing really meant anyway? Don't worry! My promise travels. And I will go with you!"
And so, Jacob leaves with everything, his wives, his children, and all his possession. After living in the Promised Land all his life, Jacob goes to Egypt.
But what Jacob doesn't realize, and what this text fails to say too, is that God has already gone ahead of Jacob. He's already in Egypt. He's been with Joseph since the beginning. And God is there, waiting for Jacob to arrive!
Throughout all my moves and all my travels, I have known this to be true too. God has always gone on ahead of me. He's been there at every truck stop we stopped at, at every rest area we visited. He was there when we pulled into our new home. He had everything ready for us. He was there when we met His people in our new location. He went on ahead of us...just as he promised.
No matter where life takes you and what moves are ahead for you in the future...there is one thing that is certain. "The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you...Do not be afraid...he will not leave you nor forsake you." (Deut. 31:1-8)
That is a promise for you...whether your next move is out of the country. Or your next move is to a nursing home. That promise is for you. He has gone ahead of you, wherever you are going. And he will be there when you arrive, a smile on his face, and a "welcome" banner across the front step. And one day, when your travels take you out of this life, you'll find he's gone on ahead of you there too, to prepare a place for you with all the saints of God. That welcome home celebration will truly be a treat. For you will have finally arrived at your true home away from all the temporary homes on this earth.
Good, gracious, and giving God. What a joy it is knowing that you go on ahead of us. That wherever we are, you have been, even death itself. Teach us to trust you, wherever life takes us, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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