Genesis 32:6-8 - When
the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and
now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” In
great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him
into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. He
thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may
escape.”
Jacob let fear get the best of him as he neared his father’s
land. He had sent messengers ahead to
let his brother know he was coming…but the knowledge of what he had done in the
past had him thinking the worst. His brother was coming to meet him…but the
fact that he brought 400 men with him must mean he wanted to fight.
Jacob was so scared that he divided his belongings and sent
them opposite directions. Then he took
his wives and children and sent them across the river…while he camped on the
other side in front of them. A man appeared…an angel of God…who wretched his
hip socket trying to get Jacob to let him go.
Jacob would not let go until the angel blessed him.
Jacob had to finally deal with the wrong that he had done to
his brother. God had already forgiven him….even taught him a life lesson about
lying and taking advantage. If he had stopped to ask God before he went to
sleep that night what to do…I bet God would have told him that Esau had also
forgiven him and was excited to see him.
But lost in his fear...his restless sleep produced a ‘Jacob’ plan…a way
to protect his family and at least ½ of what God had blessed him with.
Jacob needed a more intense ‘God’ moment than the one he had
on his way to find a wife. He had already forgotten God’s promise to make a
great nation out of his sons. He had already forgotten that God was there to
help him as he had promised. Fear froze his heart as well as his mind. It took
an all-night session with an angel…and a hip that would never work correctly again
to teach him that God is always there…no matter what.
It is a great reminder to me to let my first response to
fear be a talk with God. I can’t always control my circumstances…but going to
him first thing shows that I trust him to work everything out for the good…because
I love him. He promised to never leave me….but that doesn’t mean I might not
find myself in prison…or the belly of a whale…or on a cross. Jonah might have
been on the run…but Paul and Jesus were doing exactly what God had told them to
do.
Father…thank you for the reminder that you work all things
for the good of those that love you.
Forgive me for the times that forget your promises to me…and try to make
a ‘Barbara’ plan that actually takes me further from your will than you had
planned. Bless me with mercy the way you did Jacob….even if it means a physical
reminder of pain to help me never forget you are there …no matter what. Amen.
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