We continue our "Summer Journeys" road trip by studying Jacob this week. He was on the move most of his life, and much of it was anxiety and tension filled. There were relational tensions, family strife, and other anxiety producing situations.
One of the over-arching lessons we can learn from Jacob's life is the need to get alone with God. Your flesh will come up with a million reasons to not "waste time doing nothing" with God, but it is what you need to do and what I need to do. To another person on the outside, it can look like you are "doing nothing" and it might even feel to you like you are "doing nothing," but it changes you from the inside out. We need to get alone with God on a regular basis. Not just "once in a blue moon". As a lifestyle. After all, how do you get to truly know someone if you do not spend time with them? Jacob's journey shows us his relationship with God was more of a backup plan than his number one "go to" plan. Do you consult and meet with God FIRST when making decisions about your life and relationships or rely on your own ideas and intellect? What place is God in as you consider the following resources: a) the internet; b) friends and acquaintances; c) books;
INVITATION: What do you need in your life and relationships? When you get alone with God, He will give you what you NEED. He will help you realize your true identity as opposed to what the culture, your family or your mistakes and shame try to tell you about yourself. Are you ready to prioritize time with God? What might your life look like if you began regularly spending alone time with the God of the universe?
MONDAY: Genesis 25:19-26: Conflict reared its ugly head from the earliest moments in scripture. The sons of Isaac and Ishmael lived in hostility toward one another, and even the babies in Rebekah's womb jostled each other around! In light of the record of Genesis, you might consider that the peace of God that we all seek must surely encompass the inevitable conflicts of life. What if our spiritual journey and formation involves not eliminating conflict and suffering, but allowing ourselves to learn how they strengthen us in faith and love? Reflect on some current conflict in your life from which you may have prayed for release. Ask God for insight into how you can LIVE WITH the conflict, letting it teach you and form you, with God as your daily guide.
TUESDAY: Genesis 25:27-34: Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. In these verses we see Esau was tempted by food and thinking through his stomach/pleasure center. We see Rebekah's tendency to be conniving and sneaky. Maybe we can even call it dishonest. That is a lot of family dysfunction! We all come from dysfunctional families because we are all sinners. Your childhood was not perfect and neither was mine. There is no shame in that. Pastor Adam suggested we must not live in the past, but we must DEAL with the past. Have you explored counseling or inner healing or Spiritual Direction or any methods available to work through and be healed from ties that may bind you to your past? Pray today for the Lord to gently show you ties or attachments that may be holding you back. Are you ready to deal with them and move on? Ask the Lord to lead you to the proper resources.
WEDNESDAY: Genesis 27:5-35: Rebekah hatches a plan to trick her husband in favor of her preferred son. Many strong wills were clashing in this account, bringing to a head the conflict that had simmered in this family from the beginning. So many people were determined to control the outcome of Jacob and Esau's lives that God's will seems to be completely discounted and lost. Notice how a stubborn desire to manage and control prevails, creating a rigidity that inevitably pits individuals against each other. As you consider these events, choose one person in this story with whom you most identity. How is that persons's situation and motivation like yours? How is it unlike yours? How do you resist God's will in your life? What can you learn from this resistance? What can you begin to do in your life and schedule to allow GOD'S WILL to flow through and permeate your life and relationships?
THURSDAY: Genesis 27:41-45: Jacob journeys to his uncle's homelandnin order to flee from Esau. He stays there for many years. Are you running away from things in your life that might be better dealt with? It takes intentional steps to tend to our inner being and to acknowledge who we are, whose we are, how we are and where we are on the journey. By embracing our past (including painful experiences) we learn our pain points and places of wounding, even as we learn to expand our capacity to love and be loved. Is someone in your life influencing your decision making and actions that might not be a good influence? Have you taken these situations to GOD - first and foremost? Is there someone from your past you might need to make peace with?
FRIDAY: Genesis 32:1-12: These scriptures show us how Jacob came up with a plan to meet Esau (dividing the people), and THEN he prayed. How is your prayer life these days? When faced with a challenge, do you try to solve it in your own way and in your own timing before going to God in prayer?
You are being shaped more and more into the image of Christ. How long might that take?
Breathe.
Feel.
Cooperate with the invitations set before you.
Spend time with God.
It’s counter-cultural, but this isn’t a race and no one is grading you.
Allow yourself the gift of grace.
Grace of pacing.
Grace of process.
Grace of permission.
SATURDAY: Genesis 32:22-32 Jacob was alone with God. In verse 27 God (the man....the heavenly being Jacob interacted with), asked Jacob who he was. Who are you? Who defines you? Jacob discovered he needed his true identity in God more than he needed reconciliation with Esau. When we go to God regularly, he gives us our true identity. We can cease fighting and striving with our culture, our past, our family, our mistakes, etc. When was the last time you were face to face with God? Will you allow God to define you?
In her book, Make a List, Marilyn McEntyre explores the power of list-making. This week, consider making lists as you reflect on these questions:
Who does God say I am?
Who do I say I am?
If those closest to me described who I am to someone, what would they say?
Try taking time over several days to add to the list as items come to mind. Ask God to clarify, refine, correct, challenge, and encourage you as you consider your true identity.