8-10 Judah pushed his father Israel. "Let the boy go; I'll take charge of him. Let us go and be on our way—if we don't get going, we're all going to starve to death—we and you and our children, too! I'll take full responsibility for his safety; it's my life on the line for his. If I don't bring him back safe and sound, I'm the guilty one; I'll take all the blame. If we had gone ahead in the first place instead of procrastinating like this, we could have been there and back twice over." (The Message)
Judah gets frustrated with his father because of Israel's fear. The fear that something else bad is going to happen has paralyzed not only Israel but all those around him as well. Now things have come to a point where there aren't any other options. Israel has to face the reality that what he fears could happen is not nearly as great as what the family faces if they don't do anything. There is a good chance that Israel has been paralyzed by this fear sense the day he got the news about Joseph. But it isn't just Israel that becomes paralyzed by fear, we can find ourselves in the same place ourselves. At some point we have to face these fears and we make a choice to either move forward in spite of what might happen or we simply role up and die to the life that is before us.
Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:
- Why do you think Israel procrastinate about sending his sons back to Egypt for grain?
- What do you think is the reason that Israel finally agreed to letting his sons go?
- What events of the past have a tendency to paralyze you and keep you from making decisions for the future?
- What might you need to do to face your fears of what might happen so that you might move forward with the life that God desires for you?
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