Ben Oni or Benjamin

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Trouble, trouble, trouble, everywhere where will I find peace and hope!!!!

If we are living on this earth, our life is filled with circumstances that many times make us lose hope with life. Some time ago, I know of a friend who lost her house & husband due to a big fire in her home. She survived with her son and daughter, who were not in the house. I am sure you too can relate some challenging circumstance like this? What can we do? Should we stay miserable, depressed or lose faith in God?   

 In Genesis 35:18 there is a story of Rachel, who has a terrible childbirth, where “As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.”

Rachel in her misery named her son Ben-Oni which meant “son of my trouble.” Can you guess the son’s future? If he had grown up with that name, he would feel terrible. He would always feel responsible for his mother’s death. All his friends and family would ridicule him for life, especially when he has a name that meant he was the son of his mother’s troubles or death. His future was surely doomed. Like Rachael, in our lives we too get perturbed by drastic circumstances and speak words of faithlessness, which not only jeopardizes our future but our family’s future.  

However, in midst of this crisis, we see Ben-Oni’s father Jacob doing a powerful thing. Jacob re-names his son to Benjamin which meant “Son of my right hand” which meant “place of authority – dignity and ruler ship.” Isn’t that amazing, within moments before the terrible circumstance could set a course to ruin his son’s life for ever, he recognizes the circumstance and changes Benjamin’s future 180 degrees for the better. As we see the course of history, we even see the first king of Israel coming from the tribe of Benjamin.   

Jacob trusted his Almighty God, and knew the value of our words and how it affects our circumstances. He changed a curse to a blessing through his words of faith. Jacob knew that His God is much greater than his worst life circumstance. Had he not taken that bold step of faith immediately, he would have seen disaster falling upon his child. But his bold step of faith changed the future forever for Benjamin. Can we too speak words of faith in midst of our challenging circumstances? If yes, then you too will see God’s blessings overshadowing your worst circumstances and guiding you and your family through them, rather than being burdened by it. So let’s speak words of faith!! 

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