Genesis 31:36-42 - Then Jacob became angry, and
upbraided Laban; Jacob said to Laban, "What is my offense? What is my sin,
that you have hotly pursued me? Although you have felt through all
my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before
my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. These
twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your she-goats have not
miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. That which
was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself;
of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus
I was; by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled
from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you
fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you
have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of
Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would
have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my
hands, and rebuked you last night."
Twenty years of pent up emotions was unleashed in this angry
speech to Laban. Jacob finally reached his breaking point …and poured out all the
hurt…all the unfairness…all his hidden feelings. If it had not been shared in
anger…I would say it was well deserved….even called for…but a part of me knows
that things said in anger can’t be taken back.
Jacob doesn’t know that his wife Rachel has stolen her father’s
household gods…teraphims that maybe she feels she deserves because she was
mistreated by him too. Jacob in his anger….pronounces his beloved
wife’s death sentence…and curses her unknowingly. Jacob…in his anger… allows
his pride to shoot a list of …”I did all these things for you” …. a mile long
at Laban.
Jacob’s anger was wrong…and I think he realized it at the
end of his speech…for he finally gives the credit for all his success to God at
the end. And after they both calm down…and Laban tears through the camp looking
for his gods….they both decide to sign a peace treaty. And they build an altar
to Jacob’s God…and sacrifice to God…and eat and fellowship…and say goodbye. They give oath to each other with God as
their witness…that they will never bother each other again. Laban gets to say
goodbye to his daughters and grandchildren…and Jacob gets to continue his
travels with a clear head.
The peace of God is like that…it washes over all the hate
and ugly emotions that have built up for years…and forgiveness takes its
place. The peace that these two felt was
forgiveness...and the forgiveness that Jacob allowed God to wash over him …helped
him to view all those ways God allowed him to be tricked in an entirely
different way. He began to see them as
lessons that built his character…lessons that taught him perseverance…lessons
that taught him obedience to God and his laws.
Jacob deepened his relationship with God that day…because he realized peace
was more important than anger….that the lessons we learn from our life hurts
can far outweigh the pain and sorrow we endure form them.
Father …I thank you for every hurt and wrong that was ever
done to me. I thank you for the covering
that you provided …the love you washed over me to help me endure and move past
the pain. I thank you for all the times
you covered me when I was angry. Help me this day to see those times of
injustice…as ways that you have tried to make me stronger. Give me clear
visions of the lessons you were teaching me…and reveal to me the things I need
to learn to be a better vessel for you. Help me to always seek you in peace and
build an altar and praise you…and never lash out in anger again. Amen.
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