May 5 – The 11th Hour

The 11th hour is a time when everything seems really bleak; it’s the time before the new day comes. It’s often a time that people want to pass real quickly and perhaps feel after it is passed, that there is nothing good or special or kind that the world has to offer them. Everything else seems secondary after this 11th hour with its “problems” and “darkness” has passed. But this is not often the case. We have heard it said that it is in the eye of the storm that it is the calmest. Also, along the same vein, when all seems to have gotten to their all time low, the only place it can go after that is upwards, for the believer at least. The Lord will never give us more than we can handle. We see this in the life of Jacob, now called Israel in Genesis 42v36:

“And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.” Genesis 42v36 (King James Version)

“And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me! Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you would take Benjamin from me. All these things are against me!” Genesis 42v36 (Amplified Bible)

“Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!” Genesis 42v36 (New Living Translation).

In Jacob’s 11th hour, he got to the point when he had to exclaim that everything is going against me. Have you ever been at that stage when it seems as if everything that could possible gone wrong, has gone wrong. Welcome to the life of Jacob in his 11th hour. And yet, it was his letting go of what he cared for the most, in this case – Benjamin – that was going to help him recover all that he had lost, and more. He will get back or discover that indeed Joseph lived and Simeon would be released and they will get food for him and his family. How is your 11th hour? Rejoice, God is on the throne.

Have a glorious day.

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Verses for praise:
“Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?” Lamentations 3v37

“It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.” Lamentations 3v26