Day 18

Genesis 36:1-37:36; Matthew 13:18-35; Psalm 10:12-18

Go on, be honest, who read every last name in chapter 36. That’s a whole chapter!!!!! of names!!!! (guess what – theres worse to come).

Anyway, on a different tack. Have you ever felt as though you were in a cistern? Now for Joseph this was a large underground reservoir that used to catch the rain and provide water for the dry season. For us a cistern is part of the toilet and once someone pulls the handle, you know your going down the pan!

So, have you ever felt as though you were in a cistern and about to go you know where. But you know what, being in the cistern is better than being dead and that is where Joseph would have been if brother Reuben hadn’t stepped in. But, just as Joseph found when he was stuck, God is good, in fact he is very good and this is something that I have found whilst pondering the inside of cisterns waiting for the handle to be pulled. And just think what you are listening to whilst you are sat in there. Joseph was listening to his brothers plot against him, to sell him off, never to see his family again. But throughout all of that God was sustaining him keeping him going and that is the God that the psalmist turns to today. “Arise oh Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.” (v12).Then just take another look at v16 – 18 “the afflicted”, “the fatherless” and then the imaginary v19 “those stuck in the bog”. God doesn’t forget anyone, no matter where they are lost or languishing.

In the Gospel the mustard seed is one of the smallest going and yet the tree it produces and the powers of the mustard itself are so immense. I have recently needed the Lord to plant some seeds and help them grow – metaphorically speaking. When we put faith in God, when we dwell on his word and take it to heart then we’ll see God turn some pretty small seeds into some whopping great trees. And then we can climb the branches and get ourselves out of that cistern! Now that’s the power of the God the psalmist is speaking about and its the power of the God I believe in.