We read in Genesis chapter 45 that Jacob had quite a shock when his sons returned from Egypt and told him that his son Joseph was still alive. Verse 26 says that “Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.”
Years ago, these same sons lost Jacob’s trust concerning Joseph. His lack of belief came from their lies and deceit and a broken trust. They lied to their father and told him Joseph had been killed by a wild animal, when in reality, they sold him into slavery because of their hate for him. I’m guessing if they were deceitful enough to do this, there were several other instances in which they lost their father’s trust as well.
Before Jacob could believe that Joseph was alive, he had to hear the whole story and see the evidence of what they were telling him. The evidence that their story was true was seen in the provisions sent by Joseph for the return trip to Egypt. As humans, we need to be able to trust the people in our lives. But when someone breaks our trust, that trust has to be earned back. Here are a few insights about broken trust that we can learn from Jacob’s story:
- Sin causes broken trust (your sin, sin done to you, the sin of the one who you’re trying to trust, or the sin done to the one you’re trying to trust).
- Broken trust requires trust to be earned back. (You may want to check out “A Foolproof Method to Forgive and Heal From a Wrong.”)
- Our human nature requires us to hear and/or see evidence for trust to be renewed.
Let’s take a look at the progression of Jacob’s renewed trust in his sons:
- Jacob heard what his sons said about Joseph being alive (vs. 27a).
- He saw the evidence of their story in the provisions sent by Joseph (vs. 27b).
- He then believed Joseph to be alive (vs. 27, 28).
After Jacob believed, he made the decision to move to Egypt and see Joseph. After beginning the journey, he made a sacrifice to God in Beersheba and God spoke to Him, confirming that He wanted Jacob to move and promising to bless him and his family. What comfort this must have given to Jacob!
It’s our human nature that expects to see evidence in order to believe. When someone breaks your trust, it’s easier to trust them again when you see evidence of their trustworthiness.
This burden of dealing with broken trust was heavy on my mind when God brought me to this story of Jacob. It’s pretty difficult to live life without experiencing broken trust at some time. But when contemplating how we can apply this lesson on Jacob to our lives, remember these important truths about God:
- God has never broken our trust and He never will.
- We may fail to see the evidence of God’s trustworthiness and faithfulness (Prov. 3:5&6), but God never changes (Mal. 3:6a).
- When we fail to notice the evidence of God’s faithfulness and to acknowledge God’s faithfulness, we fail to believe in Him and trust Him.
- If we believe in God’s faithfulness, we can make decisions based on His faithfulness. Hebrews 10:23 – “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised.”
- When we make decisions based on God’s faithfulness, we can trust Him to go with us on our journey wherever we go.
- Basing our decisions on God’s faithfulness will enable God to bless us and guide us (Hebrews 10:32-39).
I’m so amazed at God’s omniscience. This was my first Bible study of the new year, 2023. I like to choose a word each year to focus on and this year I chose the word “renew.” Last year my word was “faith.” I didn’t really focus on faith very well, but I already see God teaching me that where I am spiritually and mentally is a result of that. We often need to be reminded to get our eyes back on our God. This can be done through Bible reading and preaching. But sometimes God needs to know you’re listening. Have you asked Him to teach you from His Word before you read it and before you listen to it taught? You may be surprised when you let Him know you’re listening how much He will teach you! We can remember the Israelites. They had to repeatedly turn their trust back to God, and we are no different. Let’s renew our trust in God and refix our focus on Him! We may find that trusting others becomes much easier when we believe in and trust in the trustworthy, faithful God who is guiding us.
