I recently discovered the book Daring to Draw Near, a devotional book written by John White. The book is about thirty years old now, and it focuses on ten Bible characters and their prayers to God. The book is filled with great insights.
I was especially taken by the chapter on Jacob.
I was especially taken by the chapter on Jacob.
Jacob's "prayer" in the book is his "wrestling with God" that we read about in Genesis 32. We're told there that Jacob wrestles or strives with a man ("a man" who later in the same story is identified as "God himself.") What strikes me most isn't that particular episode, but Jacob's entire life. The name "Jacob" means schemer, trickster, supplanter - and, through his entire life, he grasps at everything within reach.
In fact, that becomes the theme of his entire life.
At birth, he arrives grabbing at the heel of his twin brother.
He is forever reaching for his father's approval.
He deceitfully takes the birthright from Esau.
He essentially steals his father's blessing.
And he even grapples with God.
At birth, he arrives grabbing at the heel of his twin brother.
He is forever reaching for his father's approval.
He deceitfully takes the birthright from Esau.
He essentially steals his father's blessing.
And he even grapples with God.
After painting that picture, author John White says this: "In these ways Jacob struggled half his life to gain for himself the things God had planned to give him anyway. In the end he gained exactly what God had promised. But tragically he had missed, in the struggle, the peace and the fellowship with God he might otherwise have enjoyed. God had wanted him to have the inheritance plus peace and fellowship with himself. Instead, Jacob had twenty-one years of anxiety."
Jacob got the inheritance - but he missed out on the peace and fellowship with God.
What a sobering thought! And it dawns on me that many of us tend to live that way. Trying to grab hold (on our terms, in our timing) of what God wants to give us anyway. Struggling half our life trying to gain for ourselves the things that God has already planned to give us.
Why would we live that way? Why do we live that way? Maybe because we're not willing to wait. Maybe because we don't believe that God will keep his word. Maybe because we think that all those things are simply ours to take.
Whatever the reason, living that way will likely mean that we will miss the peace and fellowship that we might otherwise enjoy. God wants us to have the inheritance plus the peace and fellowship. Instead of that, we often choose a life of anxiety. We eventually get the inheritance - but we miss out on the peace and fellowship with God.
It's not a bad thing to strive with God. But if we feel the need to gain for ourselves what God wants to give us anyway, we are settling for a lesser life. We would be wise to choose to be people who are patient, willing to wait, willing to trust - people who are as hungry for the peace and fellowship with God as we are for the inheritance.
Jacob got the inheritance - but he missed out on the peace and fellowship with God.
What a sobering thought! And it dawns on me that many of us tend to live that way. Trying to grab hold (on our terms, in our timing) of what God wants to give us anyway. Struggling half our life trying to gain for ourselves the things that God has already planned to give us.
Why would we live that way? Why do we live that way? Maybe because we're not willing to wait. Maybe because we don't believe that God will keep his word. Maybe because we think that all those things are simply ours to take.
Whatever the reason, living that way will likely mean that we will miss the peace and fellowship that we might otherwise enjoy. God wants us to have the inheritance plus the peace and fellowship. Instead of that, we often choose a life of anxiety. We eventually get the inheritance - but we miss out on the peace and fellowship with God.
It's not a bad thing to strive with God. But if we feel the need to gain for ourselves what God wants to give us anyway, we are settling for a lesser life. We would be wise to choose to be people who are patient, willing to wait, willing to trust - people who are as hungry for the peace and fellowship with God as we are for the inheritance.