22 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him Joseph, and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”
We saw yesterday that God remembered Rachel and enabled her to give birth to Joseph. In naming him Joseph, ‘May He add’, she immediately asked for another and eventually gave birth to Benjamin. We shouldn’t give up on our dreams, if they’re God given they will come to pass. Neither should we settle for only part of what God has for us, Rachel did have a second son.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man staying among the tents. Genesis 25
Rachel’s husband, Jacob, was by nature quieter than Esau, but his life took a very different course than he might have expected. Rebekah plotted with him to steal his elder brother’s blessing and so set him on a very different course of life. He left his home and FLED ALONE TO HIS UNCLE LABAN, Rebekah’s brother. Our lives may take us on a different course than we anticipated, but God can bring good from it as we walk out our lives with Him.
Twenty years later God spoke to Jacob and set him on the run again;
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” Genesis 31
17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21 SO HE FLED WITH ALL HE HAD, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.
Jacob FLED from his brother Esau to his uncle and later FLED from his uncle back to his home land of Canaan. Yet God’s Hand was in it all, he’d left alone but through his uncle’s trickery, he was now head of a large household. The nucleus for a people of God upon the earth.
Laban pursued Jacob and just before they met God spoke to Laban in a dream;
29 I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ Genesis 31
Laban might have said/done something rash to Jacob in the heat of the moment, but God stopped him. Jacob was at the core of God’s plans for mankind upon the earth and God told the man pursuing him, with greater power TO STOP! We may want to get even with others for slighting us, but God may say No to that! BE CAREFUL NOT TO SAY(OR DO) ANYTHING GOOD OR BAD – leave the situation to God. Take a step back just as Laban did and allow God to work out His plans for all of us.
God bless and keep you today.