First, Rebekah helps Jacob deceive his father. Then, Laban, Rebekah’s brother, is deceitful to Jacob. And, now, Rachel is deceitful by stealing her father’s idols. Even more disturbing, Rachel puts faith in those idols to protect her family instead of God.
Yet, Jacob remains faithful and obedient to God.
The twenty years described by Jacob don’t sound too pleasant. He was repeatedly treated unfairly. His environment was very uncomfortable. His situation was far from ideal. Yet he did not lose faith and remained obedient to God.
think about it:
conflict. how does it make you feel?
is it easier to run away from the conflict, or face it?
could one of the shortcuts we talked about in the days past be choosing running away from conflict instead of seeking resolution?
do you ignore conflict or do you seek forgiveness?
what if when Jesus says "i came so that you may have life, and have it to the fullest"... what if he's inviting us to a lifestyle of no short cuts. what if he's inviting us to a life of freedom from grudges, hatred, and judging? what if the way of forgiveness, truth, acceptance could eliminate other problems?
jacob chose the shortcut, and caused trouble between him and laban, and gave rachel the opportunity to turn to idols. do you see that, or is that all circumstantial...?
How is it that we have bought into the idea that because we are a Christian or because we are obedient to God, everything is going to be easy? Was it easy for Jacob? Was it easy for Jesus? Why should it be easy for us?
When is God seen the most – when things are going well for us or when we are in tough times?
Does this idea affect how you might approach tough times in the future?
“Every action that we take affects someone’s faith. It either brings them closer to Jesus or it drives them further away.” -- Unknown
God really comes through so much clearer during the rough times because that is when we realize the most that we really need Him instead of just ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAnyone can look "good" during the good times. It is when times get tough that people see the difference between godly people and the world. I agree with Matt that during the rough times we realize that we need God. The challenge is turning to Him and honoring Him during the good times as well. The danger is getting a false sense that we are doing things on our own. It seems I sometimes forget God when things are going well.
ReplyDeleteyeppers, matt's right!!! it's kind of cool how we can see that we need God... because, that means that we have begun to feel the difference from when we know that he's there, and when we have no clue... we can feel the "absence" of God... but really he's still there... we just put a big wall in the way, that blocks our heart and mind from God...
ReplyDeletewhen conflict comes, i think that it depends on who i'm conflicting with... if its someone who i know well or don't know at all, i think that i generally seek their forgiveness... but when its someone in between, i don't feel close enough to them or far enough away to do that....
Matt is so right. I can say from experience that you really see God when you are going through hard times.
ReplyDeleteIn my life right now I can really see that. I have come so much closer to God through the loss of my brother.