Life is a Journey

Tomorrow is the final day of our Daily Lenten Journey. Our readings from Genesis will soon be coming to an end leaving us with the vision of Moses and the Exodus. Before we get to the Exodus, we must first make the journey along with Israel and his family to Egypt. This journey, much like our own Great Lenten Journey, is a combination of struggle and hope, and like any journey worth taking, has many unknowns.

On the promise of seeing his son Joseph alive, Israel departs for Egypt. (read the passage below) Because we know the entire story, which admittedly Israel did not know, we know there are famines and plagues and struggle ahead, but the promise from God that he would see his son alive was enough to move the entire clan to Egypt.

We too are preparing for our final journey to the Cross next week, Holy Week. We will soon depart based solely on the promise from God that we will see His Son alive again, but before we can celebrate His resurrection, first we must witness His betrayal, arrest, torture, and death. Then will come our Exodus from Hades to Heaven, much like the Jews Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Only one question remains. Will we have the courage to trust God enough to take the journey? He is calling us. Will our answer by, “Here and I?” Israel would only be saved because his son Joseph would intervene. We will only be saved when God’s Son intervenes. You may never have read these verses with this in mind. So….

Before we finish Great Lent tomorrow, take a moment and look ahead to the new journey that awaits. The Journey of Holy Week and Pascha. We will embark upon this journey, like any journey, with the hope that God is guiding us through to the end, and we will be saved. Consider this. You may not know every struggle that awaits, but you do know the end. Jesus will be victorious, and you will be saved. Is that enough to trust Him? It won’t end with Pascha, because every day and every year is a new journey in your life growing closer to God. We will wrap up our Daily Lenten Journey tomorrow, with a glimpse of the future

So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” Then Jacob set out from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their cattle and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. – Genesis 46.1-7