A Work in Progress….

Genesis 31:27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps? 

I’m honestly not entirely sure what to make of today’s scripture. Laban begins by almost cajoling Jacob. “Why’d you go in secret? You know I would have thrown a going away party if I had known.” Then Laban uses guilt. “You didn’t even let me kiss my grandbabies goodbye.”  

Genesis 31:28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. 

Then he uses a threat (“I have the power to harm you.”) and a query (“Why did you steal my gods?”) Is Laban just feeling all the emotions? Is he trying to find an angle to exploit? (He’s good at exploitation based on his past behavior.)

Genesis 31:29 I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 

Precious Savior, It is difficult for me to watch an aggressor play the victim. But You have said that I am not to judge. Help me, Jesus. If You want me to love others, all others, help me to put aside the part that wants to judge without grace, mercy, or compassion. Help me to be more like You. Amen.

Genesis 31:30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”

Have a blessed day. 

Genesis 31:23 Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.   

With descriptors like “pursued,” “caught,” “overtook,” and “captives,” the author of Genesis certainly seems to be characterizing this journey as a fleeing, an escape, and a pursuit and capture. This is a chase seen. This isn’t just a friendly trip.

Genesis 31:24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

And Laban’s statement, “You’ve deceived me” is rich, being uttered between these two–Jacob who deceived his brother and his father, Laban who deceived Jacob and Rachel. But the thing that keeps running through my mind is, “God used this, too. God used these people, too.” They lied. They cheated. They schemed. Yet God used them for His purpose.

Genesis 31:25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too.

Precious Savior, I am guilty of thinking more than once that I have messed up in a way that means You can no longer use me in Your kingdom work. What I am seeing in Your word again and again is that You can use ALL things, ALL people for Your glory and for our good IF we allow. Thank You. Amen

Genesis 31:26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 31:19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.  

When speaking of the way fear made Jacob slink out of town, commentary says, “But fear made it impossible to reap the full measure of blessing.” That resonates. How many times have I allowed fear to rob me of the full measure of God’s blessing?

Genesis 31:20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.

In many ways, fear has been my default for a long time. I use it to study the situation, look at all the options to help decide the best way forward, to plan and prepare etc, but I still allow fear to take the wheel. That’s not ok.

Genesis 31:21 So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

Precious Savior, You know I love You. You know I trust You. You know I struggle with fear–of change, of the unknown, of what could happen, what should happen, what might happen. Help me to always put my faith in You over my fear of anything I will face in this world. I know You are sovereign, loving, and good. Thank You. Amen.

Genesis 31:22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 31:14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? 

So many things I find interesting in today’s verses. For one, Rachel and Leah agree on the poor treatment their father has shown them. They also agree in their support of Jacob and his current course of action. I think this may be the first time we’ve seen these two agree on anything. 

Genesis 31:15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. 

Another interesting thing to me is that Jacob is now headed back to his father. He hasn’t seen his father since he tricked him into giving him the blessing that Esau was trying to get and his mother sent him away. Now Jacob has been tricked in a similar manner and knows what that feels like. Now he’s headed back home.

Genesis 31:16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

Precious Savior, Thank You for the ability to read this text, one I have read before, and still find things that are interesting, things that make me think, things that lead me to question and seek. Thank You that Your word is active and alive (Heb 4:12) and that if I continue to read and study and seek, You will continue to draw me closer. Thank You. Amen.

Genesis 31:17-18 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

Have a blessed day. 

Genesis 31:10 “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 

What strikes me today is verse 11, specifically Jacob’s response to the angel of God. He doesn’t hesitate or hedge. He doesn’t shrug his shoulders or ask why the angel wants to see him. He responds with a bold, simple, “Here I am.”

Genesis 31:11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 

I am afraid that I don’t always answer God in such a bold, simple way. Sometimes I’m more, “Hang on a sec,” or “Give me one more chapter and I’ll be with You,” or “Ummmm, Can you ask someone else? I don’t really want to do that right now.” Thankfully, the God of all Creation, Maker of Heaven and Earth, doesn’t smite me on the spot. He has patience. He extends grace.

Genesis 31:12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 

Precious Savior, It is so easy to judge Jacob because of his past actions. Thank You for reminding me that we all need grace from time to time, that You extend grace to all because we are Your deeply loved children. Help me to be less judgemental and more grace-filled towards myself and others. Help me to treat others the way You treat me, even when I don’t deserve it, even when they don’t deserve it. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’ ”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 31:5 He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. 

Jacob has shown himself not to be a good, godly man. He has shown himself to be a trickster in his youth. He has shown himself to be a weak, absent husband and father, but he has also shown himself to be a loyal worker to Laban, and he did inherit the birthright blessing of his father.

Genesis 31:6-7 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. 

I guess it makes sense that I would be skeptical of the Jacob presented in today’s passages as he is so different from the Jacob we have seen previously. This Jacob seems loyal, logical, communicative. He talks to his wives, implores them. I don’t quite trust this Jacob.

Genesis 31:8 If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. 

Precious Savior, Thank You that I am Your deeply loved child. Thank You that even while my faults are abundantly evident, the goodness in me is peeking through, too. Help me to see Jacob and others through Your eyes instead of my own. Where I see doubt and skepticism, help me to see Your beloved child. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 31:9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 

Sometimes, like with Jacob, God uses unbearable conditions as a catalyst for change, but sometimes He allows us to continue to slog but to know that He is with us and has a purpose for us in our circumstances.

Genesis 31:2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.

There have been times in my career when I have been so miserable that I thought, “Lord, Open a door, any door, and I will walk through it. If you are trying to get me to a place where I am ok with change, I’m there.” For me, though, His answer was always, “I am with You right here in this situation. It’s uncomfortable. It’s unpleasant. But You are not alone. I’ve got You.”

Genesis 31:3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

Precious Savior, Sometimes life is a slog. Help us to know when slogging is just the way of it that You are with us, slogging right beside us. Sometimes the slog is a catalyst for change. Help us to know when that is the case so that we can make the change You are calling us to make. Help us to know that You are with us, regardless. Always. Amen.

Genesis 31:4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 30:41 Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches,   

I’m not going to lie…when I first read yesterday’s and today’s verses, I thought Jacob was being sneaky again, was back to his old tricks. But commentary posits that while it’s possible that Jacob had some knowledge of animal reproduction, it is more likely that “Jacob did the best he knew, and God blessed it.”

Genesis 30:42a but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there.

I love the idea of doing the best you know how and allowing God to bless the results. I feel like that actually describes a lot of the ventures in my life–marriage, motherhood, teaching. Some days it feels like I am on fire and doing everything right–that’s God’s blessing. Some days it feels like more of a dumpster fire, where I have to apologize to everyone and try again tomorrow.

Genesis 30:42b So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.

Precious Savior, Thank You for Your daily presence in my life. Thank You for those days when I am doing the best I know how and Your abundant blessings are lavished upon me. Thank You also for those days when I mess up at every turn. You are still with me. You extend grace and compassion to me. Help me to be gentle with myself on those days. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 30:43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 30:37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. 

Commentary says, “God blessed Jacob, but it was not because Jacob was an especially good person. It was because of the promises God made to Jacob and the covenant made to Abraham.” My initial reaction is to argue: What the heck, God? We have seen Jacob cheat and trick and lie. We have seen him be tricked and cheated and lied to. Why would You choose to bless him?

Genesis 30:38 Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, 

It doesn’t take me long, however, to realize that God has blessed me richly, too, and not because I’m a good person. I try, but I mess up every single day. And God has promised to never leave me nor forsake me. Ever. I think the comment I began with “God blessed Jacob, but not  because Jacob was an especially good person….” can be said about me, about you, about all of us.

Genesis 30:39 they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for seeing our hearts, for loving us fiercely, warts and all. Thank You for reminding me that You love and bless me, not because I am an especially good person but because I am Your deeply loved child. Help me love others the way that You love me. Amen.

Genesis 30:40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 30:33 And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.”

Today has me thinking about God’s presence, God’s providence, and God’s goodness. We often hope that God’s goodness means that nothing bad will happen to us or our loved ones. We all know that that is not how life works. Bad things happen all the time. It can be heart-breaking and faith-shaking.

Genesis 30:34 “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 

But God is ALWAYS with us. I was just talking with a friend last night about the fact that we WANT God to make everything ok, but sometimes “all” He does is walk with us through the darkness and chaos so that we don’t have to face it alone. And that–not having to face the darkness and chaos alone–is incredibly powerful.

Genesis 30:35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. 

Precious Savior, Thank You that You love us fiercely and completely. Thank You that You promise to never leave us nor forsake. Thank You for the many, many blessings You lavish on us daily. Thank You that You always walk with us, holding us, through the difficult times. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 30:36 Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Have a blessed day.