The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 43:3-9, “Judah spoke to him, however, saying, ‘The man solemnly warned us, “You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.”
4 ‘If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.
5 ‘But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, “You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.”’
6 Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”
8 Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the lad with me and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones.
9 “I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever.”

Were you ever in a “tight and squirrely” position, where regardless of how you answered a question. you were going to be found liable? That’s what Joseph’s brothers faced when they were seeking to purchase food from the Ruler of Egypt. Thus far, the brothers had escaped having to reveal to Pharaoh that they had a younger brother.

Pharaoh may have been playing games with the brothers, but they were not amused. They
had promised, Israel, their father, to protect their young brother, Joseph. Yet, Pharaoh was
demanding to see the child or there would be no sale of the food Israel’s family desperately
needed.

Have you ever been in a dilemma like this? Perhaps, your experience was never quite so
serious, yet at the moment, it seemed ever bit as serious. What do you do? The Scriptures tell us to “trust in the LORD”; and knowing He could handle the situation, you did.

Then, along came another situation that required the same response as the previous
situation. What did you do then? Did you immediately respond as you had previously? Or
did you have to reassess everything from the beginning?

One thing is certain: you can always trust the LORD to do what is right! If you’re living for
Him daily, your assessment will be quick and without need for re-evaluation. Remember
this saying: “It’s never right to do wrong to do right.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom