Urban Thought Collective

THE BAIL OUT BLUES

Gen 41:30, 33
But seven years of family will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten and the famine will ravage the land.

And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.

The story goes, the Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt had two disturbing dreams. At some point Joseph (who has the gift to interpret dreams) is brought before the Pharaoh to interpret the two dreams for him. The dreams were a warning that following seven years of success & prosperity, there would be seven years of famine in order that the country could prepare itself for the shortfall. Joseph then makes the recommendation that the Pharaoh, in preparation of the impending trouble, would hire someone discerning and wise to who will be able to lead the country through those difficult times coming in seven years so their homes would not foreclose, and their banks would not go belly up and the unemployment rate would not triple. Someone who in their wisdom and discernment would keep gas prices from racing to unbearable prices.

Today we are facing the Bailout Blues…a reactive (not preventative) plan to keep the country from going bankrupt. But if the Pharaoh’s of our day (Federal Government, Big Bank, Investment Firms, Oil Companies and Washington) had only listened to the Joseph’s who warned us years ago that if we keep going at the rate we’re going a fall would be inevitable, the bailout plan would not be necessary. If the Pharaoh’s of our day had hired men and women of discernment and not their friends and co-conspirators of greed and selfish gain there would be no need for a bailout plan.

Everywhere we look the insecure walls of corporate greed and prosperity are crumbling, and those hardest hit will be the middle to low-income residents of our nation like those of ancient Egypt. If something doesn’t change soon the levees will break and the people of the lower ward will suffer the most…. y’all remember Katrina.

Now it’s not all bad…there is one thing we still can do! The text suggested in verse 33 that the Pharaoh look for one who is discerning and wise (it said nothing about years of experience in Washington, the two character traits were DISCERNING and WISE) to secure the nations future through the seven years of famine.

In November, we have the opportunity to hire (elect) such a one who is discerning and wise, who is able to help the nation recover from these turbulent economic times. He’s not whom everyone thought could win. And he certainly isn’t whom his opponents expected to get this far in the political race, but he is the one who’s shown Discernment & Wisdom. Now I don’t want to tell you who he is, since Pastors have to be careful about sharing our political choice as not to appear to “influence” the people…but let me tell you a quick story.

My 3 year-old niece was watching the news with us, and she was mesmerized by the television. She was laughing and cheering just like the people on TV, we turned to her and asked, “What is it you see?” She replied “OBAMA!!!” That was great!!

At any rate the story ends that Joseph the dream interpreter was the one hired to be in charge of Egypt and he led Egypt successfully through its years of famine. He was a farmer’s son, he had been treated as a slave and even spent some time in jail (read the book of Genesis), but he was the one with the DISCERNMENT and WISDOM the country needed. We need such a one to help bail us out of the Bailout Blues!!!

Peace!

Najuma Smith is a preacher, world traveler, writer, and proud parent. She currently serves as the full-time Sr. Pastor of St. James AME Church in Los Angeles. Unapologetically saved and full of purpose, she enjoys sharing words of encouragement with anyone who will listen, bringing a fresh look at life in light of the Word of God. Her collection of motivations and observations are exclusive to Urban Thought Collective. Visit her at www.myspace.com/revjuju.