Today I saw squirrels hoarding nuts, ready for winter. This is reminiscent of a story in Genesis 41 of the Bible whereby the Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream of 7 attractive plump cows being swallowed up by 7 ugly scrawny cows; he then immediately dreamt that 7 plump ears of corn were swallowed up by thin blighted ears of corn. Joseph (of Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat fame, for those who are familiar with the musical) was able to interpret these dreams which no one else had been able to do, in that he said God was warning the Pharaoh that 7 years of drought would follow 7 years of plenty. Joseph advised the Pharaoh to store the excess of the bountiful years in readiness for the drought. Joseph had previously been an arrogant young man but through times of hardship, in which God was always with him and granting him favours, he learnt to acknowledge his dependence on God. The Pharaoh promoted Joseph to a position of great authority, second to him. With the examples of the squirrels' need to hoard, Joseph's trials during which he learnt his dependence on God whereby he and those connected to him became better off, and the Pharaoh accepting the need to store for times of drought, we can learn to trust God's times of Preparation, and maybe Barrenness, in our lives as being a precursor to much better times.
