WEIGHING RISK

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"Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, "What is this that God has done to us?" When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, "The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies. We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.' "Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, 'This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.' " As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man's sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. Their father Jacob said to them, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me! Then Reuben said to his father, "You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back. But Jacob said, "My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow." Genesis 42:28b-38

Joseph’s brothers return to their father Jacob with not only the grain he sent them for but also the account of what happened to them in Egypt. They describe their encounter with the "lord over the land" (Joseph himself) and his assertion that they were spies. They also explained that in order to prove their honesty, they had to leave Simeon behind in Egypt and then bring Benjamin back after they had returned to Canaan. For the brothers, the solution seemed rather simple. Return with Benjamin to show they were honest and not spies, then get Simeon back from the "lord over the land", and return home. The plan seemed easy enough…but then a couple of complications arose.

First, as they emptied their sacks of grain, "there in each man's sack was his pouch of silver"…the same sack of silver they used to pay for the grain in Egypt. Scripture tells us, "When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened." Why? Because they were afraid that they would now be accused of being thieves as well as spies, unbeknownst that Joseph had returned their money to them as a gesture of goodwill.

Secondly, there was the reaction of Jacob. He was extremely upset over the news from Egypt. Keep in mind that he thinks Joseph is dead. Now Simeon is being held under the charge of spying…a charge punishable by death…and if that weren’t enough, now his sons wanted to take Benjamin back to Egypt to get Simeon back. Jacob’s mind thought the worse…"I have already lost one son. I can’t bear to lose another and Simeon is already in custody. Do I lose him and Benjamin, the only other son I had with my beloved Rachel?"

The entire scenario was too risky for Jacob. He tells his sons, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!" Reuben offers a proposal that had to seem as preposterous as the original, if not more. He would give Jacob his sons so that he "may put both…to death" if Reuben failed to bring Benjamin back. Jacob was unmoved from his stance saying, "My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow." And so Benjamin stayed…and Simeon remained in the Egyptian prison. That is until circumstances changed which we will see later.

The scripture today offers us an opportunity to look at something we all have to face at some time or another. That is the matter of risk. And when we’re dealing with the matter of risk, we always have to include the matter of acceptability because the two go hand-in-hand.

There are two approaches to acceptability as it applies to risk: the worldly approach and the Christian approach. And only one of the two will always help us to make the right decision every time when it comes to either accepting or rejecting risk.

First, let’s look at the worldly approach. When faced with risk, one assesses the matter either personally or in tandem with advice from external sources. We think we know best or, if we don’t, then we can go to someone or something else to get the proper guidance. Sometimes we foolishly jump into risk without seeking proper consultation, often with disastrous results. At other times, we are led down the wrong road of risk by trusting in the advice of others who we find in the end weren’t quite as wise as we thought. And the more times we err in the way of taking risks, the more and more fearful and apprehensive we get when we have to make them.

The Christian approach to risk acceptability is rather simple…and much easier than the worldly one. As a Christian and faced with a decision involving risk, we need only turn toward heaven and our Almighty, Infinite Father who will ever lead us in the way we should go…and always lead us to the right call. And while we might run the risk of getting varied opinions on what we should do if we ask people of the world, we can rest assured that we will have a consistently correct answer from the Father when we ask Him. We need then only respond in obedience. Therein lies the simple formula for Christian risk assessment. We ask the Father in faith…and we respond to His guidance in obedience. That means if God says, "Do it"…then we’re to do it. Conversely, if God says don’t do it…well…you had better not do it. Remember that it’s His will not yours that matters.

Back to today’s scripture. Jacob weighed the risk of either accepting or rejecting his sons’ proposal, but he did so on his own feelings and emotions. It was his will that would be done in this case…for he was unwilling to part with Benjamin after losing Joseph. Consequently, he allowed his people to get back to the point of starvation as the grain brought back from Egypt ran out. This led him to reassess and relent on his earlier resistance. I believe that if Jacob had just went to God with his matter, the Lord would have put him at ease and taken all the pressure off as to what he should do. But Jacob didn’t do that and we should learn from his mistake.

Question: How do we overcome our fears and anxieties in times when we’re faced with risky decisions? How can we assure that our decisions will always be the right ones? The answer is God. To determine our course of action, we should always pray over it and ask the Lord to guide and direct us. Then after receiving His guidance, we need to step out obediently in faith, knowing He will always lead us to where He wants us to be in accordance with His will. We need to keep in mind that His will might be such that He takes us out of our comfort zone. We shouldn’t be afraid because remember…we never walk this Christian Walk alone. He is always with us. Thanks be to God.

Question: How have you handled or how do you handle matters that require risk? Do you make decisions and choices based on your will or the Lord’s? Are you willing to place your total trust in the One who will never lead you astray…the One who will never leave you or forsake you? My prayer is that today’s devotional will help you as you weigh risks in future decisions. Remember…the key is God.

In Christ,

Mark

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