Closer Day By Day

Bible Passage:  Genesis 30

I am rather muddle headed today.

In the morning, I thought I saw my bus and got up… only to discover that I was on a wrong bus and it had headed off to a completely different direction.  Then as I was doing this Bible blog, I almost finished what I was writing before discovering that I had actually written for tomorrow’s chapter instead of todays!

[And no, InHisTime, you still have to write on Genesis 31 tomorrow (: ]

However, in reading the right passage today, I also realised that even the people of God’s covenant were also muddle headed.

Muddle Headed # 1 - Favouritism Rules Its Ugly Head Again

The story of Esau and Jacob’s rivalry is still fresh in our minds as over the last few chapters, we were led to ponder about the consequences of partiality showed by the parents to the twins.

Here, we see favouritism ruling once again.

Abraham had responded to Sarah’s barrenness with patient faith and Isaac to Rebekah’s with prayer.

Given the context of tension, conflict and jealousy, it is no surprise that Rachel’s infertility gave rise to angry frustration.

Rachel was afraid that since Leah was the only one who gave Jacob sons, she would lose the favour and love of Jacob. As had Sarah before her, Rachel encouraged Jacob to resort to her handmaid as a surrogate to provide a child from their marriage.

She succeeded.

But … it was Leah who was the unloved wife. And what was interesting, or instructive, was that the level of conflict grew even deeper now - Leah was unloved by Jacob; we see Rachel “unfavoured” by God (reflected in her barrenness).  This would in turn lead to another conflict (see Gen 30:8).

And it would seem that favourtism continues to be a family problem.  As we read in future chapters, we will know that favouritism would become central to the relationship between Joseph and his brothers.

What does it tell me today?

Even though these people were the promised people of God and they were supposed to know better, they can be like me and be muddle headed, doing the very things that they know should not be done and committing the very same mistakes that they had been warned of by previous examples.

God’s people are not exempt from rivalry and discord.  And we must be aware that this will happen despite our best intentions.

But what is wonderful is that this same story also shows us that God is the One who resolves discord - and this is a lesson we need to desperately learn.

What conflicts are negatively affecting your life at this point?  What would it take to resolve them?  Let’s not be muddle headed and focus our energies, time and effort on the wrong things.

Muddle Headed # 2 - Doing Things My Way

What do you think of Jacob’s way of increasing his flocks?

Society teaches us to “look out for Number One” and take whateve steps that are necessary to assure success.  Shrewd or cunning strategies that may involve dishonesty are counterproductive to God’s work in our lives.

As we read Jacob’s story, we find that God would often thwart Jacob’s attempts to succeed in order to replace them with his own blessings.  God can use failure and frustration in our lives to draw us to depend on him.

Think about it for a moment.

Have you attempted to make things work in your favour?  How successful were you?

We should plan and strategize.  But it is critical that we acknowledge that God is the source of our achievements and successes.  Without Him, there will be no true success.

And this is a lesson that Jacob has still to learn.  But we know he finally did.

What about us today?  Let us not be muddle headed and think we can succeed without God.

For some muddle headed decisions - the mistakes we made can be easily rectified - like taking the wrong bus…. I simply got off at a convenient bus stop and hopped onto a cab to get to work on time.

But some muddle headed decisions can have a life long effect. Worst still, some muddle headed decisions affect our life to come as well.

May God keep us clear headed at all times and keep ourselves in His love and grace.