Day 1:
I am special to God
“But you are...God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9).
I was detained for hours. At any rate, it certainly seemed like hours! I tried to keep my composure, but inside I quaked with dread. The frowning stares conveyed full rejection of my patient answers to the rapid-fire questions—Yes, I had been here a week ago, no, my passport had not been stamped.
I thought back to my arrival two weeks earlier—the friendly faces, the welcoming smiles, the...deference. Yes, that's it—deference.
But that was two weeks ago, when I had arrived under very different conditions. My travel circumstances had placed me in the company of someone of "status"; and every possible courtesy had been extended during the immigration clearance process. Our passports were politely returned with a smile—and no stamp. No need for formalities—mi casa—I mean, mi país—es su país.
I had followed my plan to spend a week, then leave to spend a week in a border country, and finally return to rejoin my travel companions and head back home to my country. But here I was with my reentry far different from my original arrival. Stripped of the association with someone else's privilege, I became "persona non grata, "a nobody," completely defenseless against my stern interrogators. No more preferred status.
At the beginning of the Book of Exodus, we see the people of God also losing their preferred status. Joseph, sold to slavery in Egypt by his own brothers (Genesis 37:12-28), had suffered a season of terrible hardship (Genesis 39-40), but by the divine hand of God, had risen to prominence in Egypt (Genesis 41:39-44).
Eventually, Joseph's entire family moved to Egypt where their lives were not only preserved in a time of dire famine, but enriched by their connection to Joseph. Joseph explained God's sovereign design to his brothers:
"For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt.
Come down to me; don’t delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute" (Genesis 45:6-11).
Joseph's family thrived and flourished in Egypt and increased greatly in number through the generations. Eventually, though, with the passing of time, Joseph's contributions, his power, and his prominence faded into history—"Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died...Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt" (Exodus 1:6,8).
And so began the mistreatment and the oppression of God's people in Egypt. But God's sovereign plan was still in place. His designation of "special" did not change for His people despite the adversity and oppression they faced. They would never be persona non grata.
When the time was right, he arranged for their deliverance and for their relocation to the land of promise detailed in His covenant with Abraham generations before.
The same God of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph draws us into His saving grace. From generation to generation His love never fails. It is not given or withheld based on our status or our association with other humans of "status". It is available to all. In Christ He extends to us the designation of "chosen people" (1 Peter 2:9). He stamps our spirits with a seal that says we are His. We don't face an interrogator, but an Advocate who says, "Welcome, special one!"
“In Your unfailing love You will lead the people You have redeemed. In Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling” (Exodus 15:13).
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