A Tough Situation [Genesis 44]

²⁵"Our father said, 'Go back, buy us a little food.' ²⁶"But we said, 'We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.' ²⁷"Your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons; ²⁸and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces," and I have not seen him since. ²⁹'If you take this one also from me, and harm befalls him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.' ³⁰"Now, therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad's life, ³¹when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die. Thus your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. ³²"For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever.' ³³"Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. ³⁴"For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me--for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my father?"

Did you expect this from Judah?  I didn't.  But as I see him even willing to give up his own life for his brother, I see how God has worked in his life.  I can also see how necessary it was for Judah to be at that place and time.  He needed to make that confession for his own sake.  He needed to be pressed to be in that place that allowed him to see what was really important.  God had humbled him and he responded well.  This is the man who would end up being the heritage of our Saviour. 

We praise You, God Almighty, for loving us enough to put us in tough situations.  You know best what You can use to humble us to be able to receive the truth You have for us.  And You love us too much to let us stay in our stubbornness and unbelief.  Thank You for pressing us into Your holiness. That is indeed where we will find Your joy.