What makes you happy? What brings you down? Is there a “truth” that will make us happy, no matter what the circumstances? Jesus preached a famous sermon on “The Beatitudes” – how do the 8 blessings found there build the foundation for happiness?
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Oh, it really wasn’t so bad. But it was one of those days – woke up groggy, made brekky for the family, watched anxiously as my father-in-law frantically re-packed for the airport, choked up as he broke down in tears kissing Micah goodbye, and then felt this pang of emptiness as I cleaned up his room and laundered his sheets.
Dropped Micah off at childcare and then drove to Melton to do some visitations. After a few visits, there was one more person I really wanted to see, and I wanted to take her a framed picture of Micah I had promised her, so I dropped by the Woodgrove shopping center. Having purchased the frame, I assembled it in the boot and then shut the boot – only to realise with a sinking heart that the car keys were inside.
I called the various people I now disappointed (the member I was going to visit, another member I was supposed to drive to a Leadership Meeting in Tullamarine, the senior pastor of Northpoint, Sam, who I had made go to my place only to have to walk back home, and my husband, who had to cancel a bible study and miss a meeting to come and bail me out).
Roy suggested I call the locksmith, but they quoted me $150 and said “we’ll give it our best go, but no guarantees.” Horror stories of locksmiths damaging the wiring of the car, etc. came to haunt me and I could not bring myself to secure their services.
So I refused to call the locksmith and insisted Roy come pick me up. I emphatically stated, “I’m not paying a locksmith. I’m staying here until you come, even if I have to wait all night.” I hung up without waiting for a reply, as if to prove my point.
So Roy picked up Micah from childcare and came an hour out of his way to drop off the spare key. I thought the least I could do was take Micah back, so I took our hungry, tired boy and noticed he was barefoot. “He didn’t have any shoes on when I picked him up,” Roy said.
I had forgotten to put them on this morning when I had dropped him off! Oops.
My poor hungry, tired, and barefoot boy wailed all the way home (all 50 minutes) and by the time I got home, I felt like crying myself.
My day was not really a bad day, compared to so many people out there who struggled with real pain today, but it was not a day I was proud of . . . not only for my forgetfulness, but for my reactions and attitude throughout the evening.
I had been angry at myself, angry at the exorbitant cost of a locksmith, angry at Roy for suggesting a locksmith, angry at the Schnitz employee for giving me chicken in my veggie wrap, angry at the tailgaters on my drive home…
Where did all this anger come from?
I don’t know, but I knew I didn’t want it to linger in my spirit.
The wise king said, “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9). Anger is counter-productive; it keeps us from making rational choices.
Paul counselled, “In your anger do not sin; do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:26,27). I think I gave the devil a welcome mat today.
James also advised, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:19,20).
As I reflect on my day, I realise that I should have prayed more and fumed less. Instead of spending so much time being upset, I should have been grateful for having been “stuck” at a mall, with bathrooms, restaurants, and cell phone chargers so accessible. I should have been gracious to others and myself, for how can I love my neighbours if I can’t even love myself?
So as the sun sets and the day folds, I pray to the God who is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, Father, forgive me, for I have sinned…
And I can almost hear His soothing voice say, “So you had a bad day…”
Throughout history, religion has been misused for personal agendas. How did King Saul seek to manipulate God? Are we ever in danger of doing the same?
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Famous last words. What were the precious last words of three criminals condemned to die? What insights do they shed on the power of our words?
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Many people misunderstand and fear certain end-time prophecies in the Bible. For example, the “Mark of the Beast.” But what do these symbols really mean? The story of Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace elucidates the true meaning of “666.”
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If not money-making, pleasure-seeking, or meaning-chasing, what is the purpose of life? Is there something specific that God desires for each of us, and if so, what is it? Do we have a choice in this “calling”?
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Is money really the root of all evil? Does it really provide us with security? Why do we use a financial framework to value human life? Jesus reminds us of money’s limitations and the catalytic role money plays to distribute God’s blessings. By warning us about greed Jesus gives us a new way to view money.
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The famous story of Samson depicts Sam’s demise in his haircut. However, the haircut was also his greatest need.
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When you are seeking a transformation in your life it often helps to sit back and reflect on where you want to go and why you cant get there. Often we have plans and ideas of what our lives should be like but ultimately suffer disappointment time and time again. The story of Jacob is a wonderful example to help you understand the journey of true transformation and God’s plan for you.
There is a tension that characterises most of Jacob’s life. On the one hand, God made promises to Jacob that he would provide for every important issue in his life. On the other hand, Jacob wished to deal with those same issues through his own means. This is the tension in which Jacob lived most of his life; the same tension that we go through in our own lives.
In Part 1 we will look at how the story of Jacob is a journey of unnecessary pain. We will also look at how God throughout the story relates to Jacob and begin to understand the truth about the journey of transformation. For the purpose of the article I will write the story as an overview. If you wish to read the whole story in detail read Genesis 25 – 33.
Knowing is not enough.
God promised even before Jacob was born that he would inherit the Promise (read 25:23). Jacob undoubtedly knew about this promise from his mother, as she would have told him all through his life. He was after all her favourite. This is a very interesting point to look at. How many times do we say to ourselves,
“If only God would just tell me what he wants for my life i would know what to do”.
Jacob knew what God wanted for him and yet he still chose to do things his own way. Much like how we know that our parents have a plan for us and yet we still insist on making our own way. Although we may not always know the details of God’s plan for us like Jacob, we do understand enough that he wants to see us prosper, be loved, be fulfilled, and delight in his ways. However, the truth is that knowing the plan is not enough; you have to be willing to follow it.
Look at it this way. If your boss told you were going to get a promotion in two years if you just followed steps A, B, and C, what would you do. Probably the same thing everyone else would do which is to look at steps A, B, and C and judge whether they were “right” for you. Why, because we have to be in control. The plan can be laid out before us plain as day but unless we are willing to make ourselves vulnerable and have the obedience required to follow it, we wont. So what happens when we are not obedient to follow the plan?
God waits patiently for you to “get it”.
Jacob knew that he that he would inherit the Promise from God and yet relied on his own tricks to overstep his older brother Esau. He took advantage of Esau’s and resorted to gross deception to trick Isaac into passing the inheritance to him (27:1-40).
RESULT: Jacob got what he wanted, but at what cost! Esau was so enraged that he decided to kill Jacob, so he had to flee for his life to his uncle Laban’s (read 27:41-45). That was not God’s plan. It doesn’t just end there.
When Jacob got to Laban’s land, he met his match in the deceiver and opportunist business. Jacob fell in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel, so he hung around a month instead of the few days as he had planned. Laban noticed this, and took advantage of it to extract seven years of forced servitude for her hand. When the seven years were over, Laban took advantage of Jacob’s excessive partying at the wedding feast to smuggle his older daughter Leah into bed with Jacob. When Jacob woke up the next morning, “behold, it was Leah!” Jacob was furious: “What is this you have done to me? . . . Why then have you deceived me?” (What irony after his dealings with Esau!) Laban insisted on seven more years labour for Rachel. After those seven years, Jacob and Laban then spent six more years trying to get one over the other over who would get the biggest portion of their flocks.
So because of his own scheming, Jacob successfully turned a few weeks into twenty years. He wound up fleeing for his life from his father-in-law and God had to intervene to prevent Laban from killing him. Jacob then decides he has to go back home but realises that this meant he had to face his brother. God sends angels to remind him of his promise and assure him of his safety, but Jacob in typical fashion ignores God and makes his own plan. The plan backfires and Esau sends word that he will meet Jacob with 400 men to kill him. For the first recorded time in the text, Jacob prayed to God for protection (32:9-12). But then he hatched an elaborate and self-protective plan to buy Esau off (32:13-20).
NOTE: FROM AS EARLY AS BIRTH, RIGHT UP TO THIS POINT WHERE 400 MEN ARE ON THEIR WAY TO KILL HIM JACOB HAS KNOWN GOD, SPOKEN TO GOD AND EVEN KNEW GODS PROMISE FOR HIM; AND YET STILL DOES NOT OBEY.
The journey Jacob was on was not part of God’s Plan, but he waited patiently for Jacob to understand that he was not going to get what he wanted through his own means. What does this tell us about God.
God teaches through consequence.
Many times when we are waiting on a transformation we question God’s presence. “I mean seriously does he care that I’m suffering.” However, before you question God’s love for you, question whether you are living by his plan or you’re pulling a Jacob.
Often (like Jacob), God lets us reap the consequences of our poor choices. Jacob lost his relationship with his brother, fled his hometown, got tricked by his uncle into wasting 20 years of his life, and on his way home manages to get his brother to send an army of 400 men to kill him. Where was God during all this; he was present the whole time reminding Jacob of his promise.
Even then, he had a choice, just like we do in our lives today. God won’t make you submit to him, but he will always try and reach out to you. Either you harden in your commitment to control your own life, and deepen your suspicion about God’s goodness–or you admit your inadequacy and submit yourself to God, and experience his goodness and wisdom. Jacob so far has led a life of unnecessary pain. His need to control his destiny led him to make choices that delayed God’s plan for him( a plan that he knew).
THIS ENDS PART 1.
Are you stuck in a predicament like Jacob is? Have you asked yourself time and time again Why God “lets” bad things happen to you. Have you ever said things like:
“Why do I keep getting stuck in dead end jobs?”
“Why can’t I have the life I want?”
“Why do things happen for others and not me”
If you are asking those questions, you my friend are pulling a Jacob. You’re on a journey of unnecessary pain because you won’t let the transformation God wants you to have happen.
In Part 2 we will reveal the transformation of Jacob and see how God’s plan finally came together for Jacob. We will see how obedience eventually gave Jacob the transformation he needed; the transformation we all need.
Tell me in the comment section what you look forward to seeing about God’s plan to transform you.
Why is it so difficult to change? What does the Bible mean when it says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)?
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