For more years than I care to count I’ve been coming to the family’s lake house, to visit my grandparents and spend peaceful time away from my normal life. In the beginning years, I’m sure I didn’t notice much, but over time as a teen, I learned from my grandparents the ways of the lake. I discovered how interesting it is to watch the storms march across the lake, always coming from the southwest to the northeast. Since we live on the east side of the lake, we get to watch the rain coming across and anticipate when it will arrive. It was always fun to stand on the deck watching, then turn and run into the house right before it hit!
When I arrived Sunday afternoon, it was in the middle of a pretty solid rainstorm. With a sigh I unloaded the car under an umbrella and got everything in the house. The rain stopped after a while, and we had a moody sky… dark clouds in one section, bright blue sky and white clouds in another. When the next storm hit, I noticed a change to the usual here. The storm came from another direction. It came from the northwest heading southeast. The rain still marched across the lake, but I found myself fascinated by the change in directions.
It’s happened before, but not often. Patterns of weather, just like so many patterns in life, are set and known for a reason. When they change, on those rare occasions, it’s noticeable. I found myself watching for the rest of the day, and on Monday when I woke up, I discovered that the wind and waves were still coming from the northwest. It seems simple, but for me it’s a disequilibrium in a place I know like the back of my hand.
Sometimes this is the way God works. God disrupts a pattern in our lives, a well-worn path that we know and are comfortable with, for a purpose. In those moments, no matter how uncomfortable I may be, I try to focus on watching the change in pattern so that I can fully experience it and see what God might be holding for me within it. Is there something I need to learn? Do I need to be uncomfortable for a while, perhaps to see why others are uncomfortable in certain situations, or perhaps to prepare for a change coming my way? Do I see things differently when my pattern changes?
Joseph felt this change in pattern long ago himself. He took his sons to his father, Jacob, when Jacob was dying. Joseph longed for Jacob to bless them, and that was a traditional pattern for patriarchs to bless children and even grandchildren before death.[i] Some patriarchs could even, with God’s help, foretell the future fortunes or misfortunes of their descendants. Joseph loved his father and craved his blessing for Joseph’s two oldest male children.
Yet when they arrived and it was time for the blessing, Jacob reversed the pattern. Joseph lined his sons up properly, with his older son Manasseh ready to be under Jacob’s right hand to receive the blessing of the firstborn, and his younger son Ephraim ready to be under Jacob’s left hand as the second born. Jacob crossed his hands, much to Joseph’s dismay, and gave the righthand blessing of the firstborn to Ephraim instead of Manasseh, stating that though both boys would be successful, Ephraim would be greater.
We love our patterns. We tend to dislike disruption and change. Yet God often has a purpose, a message to send, when our patterns are interrupted. Learn to stop and pay attention to those moments and see what they have to teach you about life, about your faith in God, and about your willingness to be in discomfort for a while until you come to a new place.
[i] Genesis 48
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