Saving for a Rainy Day

            

No one seems to know the origin of the phrase, “Saving for a rainy day,” but most of us have heard it. The basic premise is, though today is bright and sunny, a day will come when conditions are cloudy and gloomy. During the good times it is prudent to save something for the dark days ahead. This is generally applied to finances, but can apply to other resources.

              I am participating in the 90 Day Bible Challenge which involves reading the whole Bible from cover to cover in the ninety day period from June 1 to August 31. I did it once before but this time I asked the Lord to show me blog-worthy passages, ones that I can make fresh and relatable to my readers through current events or happenings in my life. Early in the process God is answering my prayers. Great and wonderful things happen when you read God’s Word.

              Saving for a rainy day is a Biblical principle. The first occurrence is in Genesis 41. Prior to this, Joseph, one of Jacob’s twelve sons, was a victim of sibling rivalry. His brothers sold him into slavery where he ended up belonging to Potifar, the Captain of the Palace Guard in Egypt. Potifar noticed that God’s hand was on Joseph and everything he did was successful so he made Joseph his personal servant. Potifar gave Joseph authority over his house and everything he owned. While Joseph lived there, everyone in the house benefitted from Joseph’s blessings from God.

              After a time, Potifar’s wife made advances toward Joseph but being the man he was, he refused her. Through some conniving on her part, she made a case against Joseph and he was thrown in prison. God continued to bless Joseph, even in prison, as he gave Joseph opportunity to interpret the dreams of two other prisoners.

Two years later, the King of Egypt had some troubling dreams. His Cupbearer remembered the time when Joseph told him the meaning of his dream while he was in prison. Joseph was called before the King to see if he could interpret the King’s dreams. God gave Joseph favor and allowed him to see the meaning of the dreams.

Joseph told the King his two dreams had the same meaning: there would be seven years of good crops and plenty to eat in Egypt, followed by seven years of famine in which people would be so hungry they would forget what plenty was like. Joseph gave the King the resolution to the problem, basically saying, “Save from the plentiful years for the famine to come.” He advised the King to appoint a man to oversee the saving and protecting of the food supply.

The King was so impressed with Joseph, he said, “Can we find a better man than Joseph to take this job? God’s spirit is truly in him.” It is amazing to me to see how these people could see God at work in Joseph’s life but didn’t accept Him as their own God. The story goes on. During the famine, Joseph is in a position to help his own father and brothers survive the famine. It’s an incredible story that comes full circle.

Are you saving for a rainy day? Will you share your stories about saving for a rainy day? They are bound to be a testimony of God in action.

Going out with joy today, praising God for His favor-

Cathy

Joseph Tells the Dreams’ Meaning - Genesis 41:25-38 NCV

²⁵ Then Joseph said to the king, “Both of these dreams mean the same thing. God is telling you what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows stand for seven years, and the seven good heads of grain stand for seven years. Both dreams mean the same thing. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows stand for seven years, and the seven thin heads of grain burned by the hot east wind stand for seven years of hunger. ²⁸ This will happen as I told you. God is showing the king what he is about to do. ²⁹ You will have seven years of good crops and plenty to eat in all the land of Egypt. ³⁰ But after those seven years, there will come seven years of hunger, and all the food that grew in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The time of hunger will eat up the land. ³¹ People will forget what it was like to have plenty of food, because the hunger that follows will be so great. ³² You had two dreams which mean the same thing. This shows that God has firmly decided that this will happen, and he will make it happen soon.
³³ “So let the king choose a man who is very wise and understanding and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ And let the king also appoint officers over the land, who should take one-fifth of all the food that is grown during the seven good years. ³⁵ They should gather all the food that is produced during the good years that are coming, and under the king’s authority they should store the grain in the cities and guard it. ³⁶ That food should be saved to use during the seven years of hunger that will come on the land of Egypt. Then the people in Egypt will not die during the seven years of hunger." ³⁷ This seemed like a very good idea to the king, and all his officers agreed. ³⁸ And the king asked them, “Can we find a better man than Joseph to take this job? God’s spirit is truly in him!”