The Importance Of The Information Series

My grandchildren were telling me of the play that was put on in the

opening of their Sunday School. It seems that a man heard of an umbrella

that was guaranteed to keep you dry, but after he bought one he went out in

the rain and got soaked. He brought it back and was informed that he had to

hold it over his head to be of any use. He went off with it over his head and

still got wet. Back again he came and was further informed that he had to

open it up to achieve its purpose.

Without proper information the umbrella was not only useless, but it was a

downright nuisance, for it gave false hope and led the man to getting wetter

than he ever would have without the umbrella. Without it he would not have

been so foolishly traipsing around in the rain. The solution to his problem was

found in information. When you know how to use an umbrella, or any other

tool, you can enjoy the benefit for which it was designed. Ignorance keeps us

in the dark, and in bondage, but information can turn on the light and set us

free to take intelligent action. That is exactly what we see happening in this

family drama of Jacob and his 12 sons. It was by means of information that

God worked out His plan for this special family.

We are not told how Jacob got the information that there was grain in

Egypt. There are traditions that Joseph had the chaff of the grain thrown into

the Nile so that people who lived down stream would know there was grain

available. But this would be of no help to Jacob up in Canaan, which was 250

miles North. More than likely it was a caravan travelling through from Egypt

that spread the word. By some means Jacob got this information and it was by

means of that information that God's will was accomplished in saving the

people of Israel. We tend to think that God guides us in life by some mystical

method, and we forget that all through the Bible the primary way God

providentially leads His people is by just plain old practical down to earth

information.

The unusual is also real of course, but it is unusual. Joseph had to have the

special gift of inspiration to get to the place of authority he had arrived at. He

was given the ability to interpret dreams and this got him to the top. But once

there we never read of Joseph interpreting another dream. It was a unique gift

given for a specific purpose. Once achieved Joseph had to discover the will of

God like everyone else, and that was by seeking information. He was the prime

minister of Egypt by inspiration, but the only way he could know if his father

Jacob was alive, and if his brother Benjamin was alive, is by an elaborate

scheme to get this information through his brothers. God did not give him any

power to discern such information without human help.

Just as Jacob had to learn that grain was available in Egypt, so Joseph had

to learn his father and brother was alive. Most of what we know to be the will

of God will come to all of us through the information we learn. We need to get

God's will the old fashioned way-we learn it. Many will ask, where does God

want me to go to school? You have to get information to know what school

offers what you are aiming for, and what school can you afford. God is not

going to lead you without information, for He guides by means of information.

You have to know something about a school before you can even pray about it.

It is not likely that it is God's will that you just pack up and go off to a school

that you know nothing about. You have to have information, and by means of

information God will give guidance. The same holds true for many others

questions in which you are seeking guidance. You start with information.

The will of God does not just float down from the sky on heavenly

parchment. It is in books, tapes, papers, experience, lectures, sermons, advice,

and every other source of information you can imagine. It may come by word

of mouth as it did to Jacob. It may come by an elaborate dream as it did to

Joseph. It may be a long and laborious process of research, but one way or

another we need information to know and be in God's will.

The only way any of us are in the family of God is because of information.

The Gospel is good news and by some means we heard this good news and