Jacob - Pt. 9

 

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” (Genesis 30:1-2 ESV).

 

Some of us are old enough to remember the days when television was not available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and every day of the year with hundreds of channels and programs to choose from. I’m one of those old folks who remember when television stations stopped broadcasting late at night going off the air until morning. They would end the day with a picture of the US flag waving and the playing of the national anthem. If you stayed on the channel a bit you would see a test pattern until programming resumed. You may remember the pattern from the example I’ve included here. These test card were originally physical cards at which a television camera was pointed, and such cards are still often used for calibration, alignment, and matching of cameras and camcorders. It was completely out of our control, but completely for our good. It guaranteed a good picture the following day.

 

Sometimes God puts us in situations completely beyond our control designed for our good (cf. Romans 8:28). For Jacob, this began with his own family. His uncle tricked him into a marriage with Leah, whom he failed to love, creating a rivalry with Rachel for his affection. Nowhere was this rivalry felt more strongly than when Leah began having children and Rachel reacted with predictable bitterness. While Jacob rightly points out that it is beyond his ability to ease Rachel’s pain, his response is one of anger. Like many of us, Jacob is accustomed to leaning on his own ability to solve problems. But his inability to help Rachel frustrates him, and it leads him to frustrate and hurt the people around him. Confidence in our own abilities often does that.

 

But Jacob’s words are truer than he knows: “Am I in the place of God?” While he has not yet fully grasped this truth, these words reveal a growing awareness that Jacob is not God. Life is beyond his control. We can be frustrated and we can frustrate others when we find ourselves in situations outside of our control. Or we can admit that we are not God, and we can begin to embrace his gracious care for us.