Genesis 32: 6-11: “And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.”
Jacob knew that he had cheated his brother twice before and now he was afraid. He tried to do everything he could to make sure that the situation was good for him using his own resources but when he had done everything that he could he got on his knees and prayed to the Lord. It is sad to think that we often go the first place when we have tried everything else and finally, in desperation, go to the Lord. This is reminiscent of Deuteronomy 30: 1-3 (“And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.”) God’s entire plan for His people is to bring us to our knees in complete submission. So often we fight and struggle to get our own way but He knows what is best for us and is working in our lives to bring us to the place of complete submission. That is the best place to be!
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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