Genesis 43:1-15

Relax, Read and Reflect.
Prayer- Lord, Open my heart and open my mind and help me learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
1BUT THE hunger and destitution and starvation were very severe and extremely distressing in the land [Canaan].
2And when [the families of Jacob's sons] had eaten up the grain which the men had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, Go again; buy us a little food.
3But Judah said to him, The man solemnly and sternly warned us, saying, You shall not see my face again unless your brother is with you.
4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down [to Egypt] and buy you food;
5But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.
6And Israel said, Why did you do me such a wrong and suffer this evil to come upon me by telling the man that you had another brother?
7And they said, The man asked us straightforward questions about ourselves and our relatives. He said, Is your father still alive? Have you another brother? And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, Bring your brother down here?
8And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
9I will be security for him; you shall require him of me [personally]; if I do not bring him back to you and put him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
10For if we had not lingered like this, surely by now we would have returned the second time.
11And their father Israel said to them, If it must be so, now do this; take of the choicest products in the land in your sacks and carry down a present to the man, a little balm (balsam) and a little honey, aromatic spices and gum (of rock rose) or ladanum, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
12And take double the [grain] money with you; and the money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again with you; there is a possibility that [its being in your sacks] was an oversight.
13Take your brother and arise and return to the man;
14May God Almighty give you mercy and favor before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved [of my sons], I am bereaved.
15Then the men took the present, and they took double the [grain] money with them, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
Hunger causes all of us to do different things. Jacob did not want to send his sons back, (Simeon must have not been his favorite child.) They ran out of grain and had no other option. He sent twice the money to cover the "oversight" of the returned money with the boys. He didn't want to send Benjamin, but he had no choice.
Sometimes, the second trip to a different place can be the most frightening. Joseph had properly scared his brothers, but finally Jacob put his faith in God. We do the same things. As a salesman I do not mind making cold calls. Sometimes making the second call can be tough, especially if the first meeting was not particularly nice. We all must have faith, and God will take care of us.
Prayer- Lord, Give us the strength to follow-up when we do your work. Give us curage and give us the wisdom to trust You always. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.