Jacob - Pt. 11

 

And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’” And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.” And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. (Genesis 32:3-11 ESV).

 

Fear can be a powerful force in our lives. For much of his life, Jacob had tried to act as a person in control, someone who could figure his way out of any hard place. After he successfully navigated his recent awkward encounter with Laban, we might think he would have felt confident in his abilities. But now, as reports suggested that Esau, his brother, was coming to meet him with 400 men, Jacob was terrified. What more could he do to save himself? For the first time, we hear him praying the desperate prayer of a man who knows he can do nothing apart from God’s help and power.

 

We often imagine that we have the resources to deal with any problem that might come our way. Perhaps we even say that we depend wholly on God’s power, but we so often live as if our efforts and our know-how are what really matter. When we face a situation we cannot control, we realize that we cannot rescue ourselves from our deepest fears. We cannot preserve our health. We cannot redeem our reputation. We cannot reconcile our broken relationships. We cannot save ourselves from our sin. We can depend only on the grace and power of God.

 

Have you come to the point of desperate faith? As powerful as fear is, God’s grace in Christ is far more powerful. Praise God for his amazing grace!