I don’t know about y’all, but with yesterday being the 11th anniversary of 9/11, I’m feeling a little bit drained today. I woke up with my heart actually heavy this morning, hurting all over again for our country and how far we’ve turned away from the God Who created us. Revival would be so amazing right now. Drawing nearer to God would be so amazing. I found myself listening to David Crowder Band’s “How He Loves” this morning, because He does. And He wants us back.
But today is about Genesis, right? Because it’s Wednesday!
Genesis 30:24 (GW)–She named him Joseph [May He Give Another] and said, “May the lord give me another son.”
I always feel a little bit sad when I read the story of Leah and Rachel. Like Jacob himself, they are caught up in the “playing favorites” game of someone in authority over them, someone who is supposed to love them. And the names of their children reflect that struggle. (I love, incidentally, that Judah’s name is “Now I will praise the Lord.” It took her long enough. But she did it. And look Who came from Judah’s line. I’m just sayin’…)
But it’s Joseph’s name that grips me. All along, they might as well have been naming the children, “Ha ha, I have a child and you don’t!” Rachel’s despair is deep, certainly. She watches her sister bear child after child, watches her maidservant have children, and she’s barren. Then God answers her prayer! There should be great rejoicing and weeping before Him, thanking Him with all that’s in her.
Instead? She says, “Nope, God. That’s not enough. I want more.”
Just typing that made my eyes tear up. I wonder how God’s daddy heart felt? “Here, honey, I’m giving you everything you wanted.” And she looked at Him and said, “More.”
How bad are we for the same thing? We get what we want, and then we stretch out our hands and say, “More!” It’s never enough, is it? How does God feel about that? How should we feel about that?
I pray for myself, for my family, for our country, that we manage to stop saying “more” and start praising God for what we have, then asking Him how He wants us to use it. Because He’s so much more generous than we can imagine.
-JB
Sandy Rosser says
We place way too much emphasis on the things in this world! How God longs for us to want more time in His word, more time spent in prayer, and more effort in our service. That’s the kind of “more” He wants to hear. Sandy