Newsletter November 2021 Part 2
By His power
But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:22-23)
From before the birth of Jacob and Esau, God told their mother Rebekah that Jacob was to become the heir of His promise. Yet instead of waiting patiently for God’s purpose to unfold, Jacob seized the first opportunity to take advantage of Esau’s impulsive character by getting his brother to sell to him what God had already determined was his by promise. Then, adding insult to injury, Rebekah conspired with Jacob to trick Isaac into pronouncing the blessing of the firstborn on him instead of Esau. As a result of taking matters into his own hands, Jacob ended up having to flee from his furious brother to save his life.
Jacob seemed to have lost everything, but it was at this point, while he was all alone in the wilderness, that God appeared to him. In a dream, he saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. (Genesis 28:12) And above it stood the LORD and spoke to him, reaffirming to Jacob the promise He had made to Abraham and his descendants to give them the land.
How often do we take things into our own hands rather than simply trusting in God’s promise, waiting patiently for His purpose to unfold? How often do we end up outside of God’s place of blessing because we try to manage our destiny ourselves? In Jacob’s case, this resulted in more than two decades in His uncle Laban’s service, at the end of which he found himself fleeing yet again for outwitting his uncle, as he had once outwitted his brother and father.
How long can a person be on the run? And what does one do when there remains nowhere to go? The only option left for Jacob was head back to his homeland with the family God had given him during his exile and hope that somehow his brother would forgive him and receive him back. However, news came to Jacob that Esau was still determined to kill him, so he tried one more time to work things out himself: he sent his family and servants ahead in groups, with gifts, hoping to appease his brother. Yet again, as he was all alone, God appeared to Jacob. (Genesis 32:24-29)
… a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.” And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.
It was after this divine encounter, that Esau’s attitude towards his brother suddenly changed. Jacob had to come to the realisation that his only hope was to trust entirely in God’s grace. And the injury he received during this struggle was to serve as a constant reminder that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Therefore, in all our trouble and in all our fragility, let us remember that God’s grace is sufficient. Let us be confident that He will make a way by His power, for when we are weak we are strong.