It is Enough

Gen 45:28  And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die

There are times you feel as though more needs to be done either for good or for bad.  You want to reward and encourage someone or you feel additional reprimand or a stern reaction is called for. And then you realize … it is enough.  Jacob discovered two main things – first that Joseph is alive and then the wickedness of his children must have shocked him.  This could also have been so disappointing to Jacob.  I would have expected some reaction or comment concerning the hatred that caused him so much pain.

Perhaps he remembered how he treated Joseph so specially and how that may have provoked much jealousy. I also remember a story I heard, of a man in a town known for being very hard and tough.  This man arrives one day to discover that his home had been robbed, his wife killed and his only daughter severely wounded by the robbers weapons.  The entire village expected trouble but the man simply said “It is enough that my daughter is alive”… the neighbors who knew this man well were shocked as the man confessed, that many years ago in his teens – he was in a gang that violently attacked many homes.

Jacob said “it is enough” as he heard again the loud cries of Esau his cheated brother and the sorrow of Isaac his father who he deceived into releasing the blessing. Jacob saw that he had only reaped the seed he had sown in a previous era.  The Apostle Paul before he became a Christian, was putting Christians in prison eventually to find himself frequenting prisons all through his ministry. There are times we come face to face with the harvest of past seeds that God in His wisdom, insists that we harvest.  Even in these His grace will be enough.  At those times we should remember to be quiet and to say … “it is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me …and that He lives and reigns forever that I may reign with Him”.

For Jacob, it was enough that Joseph had been miraculously preserved for their posterity.  It was easy for Jacob to release the past and move forward.  Putting the past behind is important. Look forward.

Song. 

My faith has found a resting place, not in device or creed;

I trust the ever living One, His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument, I need no other plea,

It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves, This ends my fear and doubt;

A sinful soul I come to Him, He’ll never cast me out.

My heart is leaning on the Word, The living Word of God,

Salvation by my Savior’s Name, Salvation through His blood.

Prayer: Lord,  May your grace and the truth that you reign forever, be sufficient for me … especially when I should be greatly disappointed. Amen

The Songs of Joseph is an integration of encouragement scriptural devotions, prayers and a compendium of songs of mercy, salvation, new beginnings and victory. We can expect as we trust and obey that our end will indeed be ultimately glorious because God works His marvellous agenda. Be blessed as you read and sing along, daily. Edited by Bolade Apampa