God rescued Jacob ‘out of’ all his troubles. Genesis 31
“Then the Lord said Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives and I will be with you”. Genesis 31:3
God had brought Jacob out of the land of Canaan for twenty years to his mother’s people and increased him greatly there. Now it was time to return to the Promised Land, the land where their destiny lay, but Jacob feared Laban. Jacob left secretly with his large family and flocks to return to Canaan, but Laban heard after 3 days and pursued them. He journeyed for 7 days and finally caught up with Jacob and his family in the hills of Gilead. Before they came together God spoke to Laban in a dream and warned him, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad’. (Don’t touch the Lord’s anointed!)
We shall never know this side of Heaven, how many times God or His angels have delivered us from harm, maybe much more than we imagine. I knew of someone who had been a drug user but God was calling them to Himself. Under the influence of the narcotic they could actually see some things in the spiritual realm. They were standing on a bridge over a large river, contemplating jumping into the water and they could see two angels, a light one and a dark one fighting over them. The person came to know the Lord and helped many later in life.
Jacob knew fear (interesting that the Bible refers to the Fear of Isaac – what we fear can become our god!) as he fled with his family and flocks. Laban said he’d been foolish and that he had power to harm him, BUT GOD had visited him in the dream. God had warned Laban not to even ‘say’ anything to Jacob or there may have been a different outcome. Jacob had to step out and obey God, commit with all he had to the journey away from Haran. God may also demand of us to put everything on the line, like Abraham with his son. What’s in our hearts is often revealed in ‘times of challenge’.
God rescued Jacob from his uncle, but very soon he’d face the next challenge when he met his own brother Esau, whom he’d robbed of his father’s blessing.
Jacob was God’s man to form a nation through which all the nations or peoples would be blessed, but God tested Jacob many times during his life. He was called to be a Patriarch and that’s what he became after God’s dealings with him. God knows His plans for us and He can just as certainly bring them to pass if we cooperate with Him.
God delivered/rescued Jacob ‘out of’ all his troubles.
God bless and keep you today.