Today's Readings: New Testament -
Luke 4:38-44 / Acts 8:26-40
Old Testament -
Psalms 14 / Genesis 32-33
Click on Text Links to Read Online
Focus Verses: Genesis 32:30-31
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." 31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
Insight:
When Jacob sent messengers ahead to give Esau the news of his return, Esau responded with force. He and a small army of his men (400) came out to confront Jacob, the devious brother he despised. Jacob had tricked and cheated Esau in the past, and Esau was not about to welcome him back only to be deceived and swindled again in the future. A rich and powerful Jacob was a threat to Esau's security and an insult to his ego.
Jacob was alarmed and shaken by the news of Esau's vehement response. He feared losing everything. He spent the whole night tossing and turning and wrestling with God. He struggled with his fears, his guilt, his hopes, and his anguish over the impending menacing confrontation with Esau. In that mysterious all-night interaction with God, Jacob's hip was thrown out of joint.
Jacob, ever the shrewd player, orchestrated the way Esau would encounter him. Before Esau got to Jacob, he would first be met by droves of livestock in the care of humble servants declaring themselves and their flocks to be gifts from their master. Jacob's plan was to wear down Esau's hostility with bold generosity.
I'm sure this scheme went a long way toward defusing Esau's rage, but wouldn't years of pent up rage and thirst for revenge come rushing back once he locked eyes with a strong, healthy, happy, and prosperous Jacob? Imagine what he must have thought when he encountered, instead, a haggard, stressed out, and red-eyed Jacob who came limping out to meet him. Surely the sense of threat must have melted away. Jacob might have even seemed pitiful and weak.
Response & Action:
God can use my weakness and brokenness to help me. The things God does to limit me or slow me down might be the very things necessary to preserve my life. My efforts to manipulate and orchestrate my success from a position of strength might be of no real value in the end.
When the shame and consequences of my past sins and mistakes come back to threaten and defeat me, I must remember that God is faithful and he can save me. My weakness may be my greatest strength as I rely on God. Ultimately, my life is in God's hands, and God is able to use my powerless to accomplish his perfect will. What seems to be a liability from my point of view, might in fact be an instrument of blessing from God's.
O God, teach me to rely on your strength instead of my own. Help me to trust in you with all my heart instead of leaning on my own understanding. Give me confidence that comes by faith in your unfailing love. Give me hope that springs from surrender to your will. Help me to follow you in obedience because I have assurance in your promises. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: 2 Corinthians 12:10
10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Resources:
Following After God: What Difference Does God Make
by Daniel Hill
