Genesis 32:9-12
9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
Have you ever felt like your life is out of control, you have no sense of stable ground that you are standing on? You feel imbalanced making decisions do not come easy. So you fret, spend hours if not days struggling with not one but several decisions. Why do we do this? It is simple we want control, we want the situation whether it is good or bad to always work in our favor. We do not like disappointment, failure, or change. We create our own human tunnel vision. We narrow in on that situation, focus straight ahead not on Yeshua but just on the situation. We are desperately seeking the perfect way in every step we take so that it can be a perfect choice. We tend to toss our Biblical teaching to the side and in our own prideful manner we think we can obtain all the control over every decision in our life. What fools we become! We do not understand that change can be a good thing. It helps us move forward, it helps us grow but it is the most difficult thing in a Christians life to accept. It is because we never know what to expect with change no matter how much we try to control it, it is pointless. Change is upon us, and it is something we have no control over. Change can leave you spinning out of control grasping to regain control, only to realize you never had it to begin with. It is happening all around us every day it is a four letter word that we live in and it is one that God does not “TIME”. Every time you look at your clock it has changed.
A loved one dies, a new life is born, loss of a friendship, new job, new school, these are just a few things that bring about change. Many of us welcome change from a distance but are slow to embrace it.
In the scripture above God has instructed Jacob to return to the land he fled from many years ago. The only problem with returning is Jacob fled from his brother Esau, many years ago for fear of his life. Now he must return and face his brother Esau not knowing what the outcome will be. Jacob didn’t just have to face his brother but he had to uproot his entire family and travel for many days to a foreign land. Not only must Jacob face his brother who he stole his birth right from. Jacob loses his wife in child labor, he has a new baby, and his daughter is raped and his sons kill an entire village in retaliation. Jacob was experiencing some serious change. Through all this change Jacob turns to all he knows. He turns to God and offers this prayer. It is a prayer of reassurance of what God has done and what he has promised Jacob. Do you know what God has promised each of us? He has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Matthew 6:31-34 “31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Fall is here and if you step outside you will see the leaves are beginning to change. What a process that a tree must endure through each season. Every year a tree grows a little taller, its branches spread a little further and it sprouts leaves of green. However when the weather changes the leaves begin to change color. This to me is one of the most beautiful times of the year. Think about it, it is beautiful but yet those leaves are dying it is changing. As they fade away the winds come, the rain and snow fall. Slapping the tree back and forth until all the leaves have fallen away. All that stands through this change is the tree that is rooted deeply in the ground. Eventually the storm ends and winter passes and new leaves form once again. It is a process that happens through the entire life of that tree. Through all that the tree continues to grow taller, and its roots deeper. We are honestly like a tree but we must keep our roots deep in the word of God make our branches a worship to God. No matter what change we face as long as we stay rooted in God and worship him we will continue to grow. Through all the changes in our lives trust God and cling to his promises. Your life may seem out of control but God is in control. Stop fretting, stop making it difficult, stop struggling, focus on Yeshua place it at the foot of the cross. Always remember he changes not, God wants you to embrace change if you do not, you will not become who he created you to be.
Amen!
© Shannon Wendler