PRAY IT! Genesis 45:16 - 46:7, 28-30

Did you follow along with this week's readings?  Yawn.  There, I said it.  Not much of a page-turner after all that we've read thus far. 

Joseph's brothers go report to Jacob that Joseph is not only alive, but alive and well, doing his prime minister thing for Egypt.  Jacob is pretty pumped about this and decides he must accomplish this unplanned "bucket list" task and see Joseph before he dies.  So, at God's prompting, he packs up everything he owns - family and possessions, and relocates to Egypt to be reunited with Joseph.

So what?  (Clearly I need to watch the Hallmark Channel and grow a deeper appreciation for happy endings, right Pastor Karin?!)

Let's take the seemingly simple and relatively boring readings and think a bit bigger.  Is it perhaps more exciting than we think it is, when we think about our God as a God who wants a relationship (reunion... reconciliation... transformation... as soon as possible and forever) with us?  And if we think about Jacob's response as our own?  Hmmmmm...

When God calls you close (and closer) to Him, are you willing to step out in faith as Jacob did?  When you are faced with something phenomenal (like the Good News that is Jesus Christ) are you so excited that you MUST drop everything with immediacy and urgency, and proceed toward Him with a newfound singular focus?  Do you disregard your "yeah, but" excuse, (be it your age, your position, your resources, your health, or your protest that "you don't like change" etc.) drop all your plans, and say "Okay God, here I come!"  (Jacob was old and settled, but he did not let this deter him.)  Will you "pack up" everything you own and do your best to excitedly bring everyone along with you because even though it is scary, it is scary-amazing, and you don't want yourself or anyone you love to miss it either? 

I think sometimes we can convince ourselves that reunions are less than desirable because nothing involving people is simple, neat, predictable, and cut-and-dry.  The Hallmark happy ending can be fickle.  I think we worry, because reunions can disappoint.  They don't live up to our imagined expectations.  For example, despite its popularity, the characters on the sitcom Friends are probably never going to reunite... Would it live up to the hype of what fans would imagine?  No.  Sometimes it is best to leave well enough alone.

Our God is different though.  Our God is all about transformation.  Our God has not pigeon-holed us into what we were as a high school junior, in His eyes, never to change despite how many years have passed.  Oh no.  Our God does not want to avoid us, even though we come to Him with our baggage, our drama, our messiness... in fact, He encourages us to come to Him!  Our God offers us new life through Jesus.  A reunion with our God will not disappoint.  I don't know much, but I do know that.

Here are some verses, for your reading pleasure:

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!

And, I stumbled across this gem in my devotional this week:

Deuteronomy 4:7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 

Amazing!!!

In sum:
God wants a reunion with you.
He wants this now.
He wants a reunion with everybody.
He does not want it to end.
One way we draw near to God is to pray.
Our God is awesome, loves us, and transforms us for the better.  Why would we not want to draw near to Him?

Dear God,
When you call me, help me to respond quickly, completely, and whole-heartedly.  I want to be all-in with my relationship with You.  I love You and I need You. 
Amen.

Join us tonight, at 7pm, where we will spend some time praying for our Encounter at PoC, as well as for this Sunday.  Let's continue to pray for God to do what only He can do, and for us to see more of Him and His transforming works in our lives, in our church, and in our communities.

Pastor Celia