Genesis chapter 44

Just look at the amazing change in Judah here from a man who suggested selling his brother to the Ishmaelites, married a Canaanite woman and then ended up sleeping with his daughter in law thinking she was a prostitute, you now have a man who is prepared to accept responsibility, to take charge and shoulder the blame rather than have someone else suffer and cause his father grief.   A man who stands before his brothers and freely offers his own life as a slave in the place of his younger brother.  He was more concerned about his brother and his father than he was about himself.

It shows how God was at work in Judah all those years.  The changes in him were not something that happened overnight.  After all, Judah had had two of his sons marry and die.  But here he is, willing to accept a life of slavery to save his father's favoured son,  with no thought for himself .  He stepped out to face Joseph, who presumably could have had him killed just for speaking out, and offered himself as a slave instead of Benjamin.

Sometimes, God changes us immediately, and the change is apparent to everyone.  Like the drug taker who on converting to Christianity, immediately stops taking drugs, or the man who swears with every other word whose stops swearing immediately.  Other times, it takes longer, as we are changed over months, years.  We become less hard, less selfish, are more considerate of others.  Gradually, the Holy spirit changes us from within and we become filled with the fruits of the spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self control.

Genesis chapter 43

So here we have Jacob who at the end of the last chapter, flat out refused to let the brothers take Benjamin to Egypt to prove they were telling the truth and to get Simeon released from prison.

You know, you have to feel sorry for Simeon in this chapter.  Very little mention is made of him, yet he is the one stuck in prison, whilst his brothers go home and spend so much time there that they could have been to Egypt and back twice.  It would have been easy for Simeon to become bitter.  After all, he had practically been abandoned by his family, he knew the terms of his release and it would have been evident to him that his father would rather lose him than Benjamin.

But no mention is made of this in the bible, and I am pretty sure that if Simeon had come out of prison full of bitterness and hatred, it would tell us this.  Maybe, just maybe, the time alone (I'm assuming he was in his own cell in prison here, although I am sure that the prison was as comfortable as Joseph could arrange it) gave him pause for thought, gave him the chance to reflect on what had gone on over the years, how he had treated his younger brother Joseph and how he and his brothers had spent the intervening years worrying about this and regretting what they had done.  Maybe this time in prison when he didn't have to tend the flocks, see to the herds, and do all the million and one other things he was always doing when at home meant he could spend time with God, reflecting, meditating, repenting. 

I think we all need time like this, time when we are not in a rush to get to work, do the school run, sort out the children, finish that piece of work, and anything and everything that fills our lives in this busy world.  We live in such a fast paced world, where there is always something to be done and the "to do" list just keeps getting longer and longer.  I often wish I had the time to just take some time out, to spend time in prayer and meditation instead of getting up ever earlier to make sure I have enough time to do everything.  Everything always seems so rushed, and I always seem to be in such a hurry that I never truly appreciate those moments when I can just sit and be still.

I reckon we could all do with some time on our own like Simeon, not that I am advocating going to prison here mind!  But just allocating part of our day to just sit and be with God, to take time out, even if it is only a few minutes, and just spend it with God , in quiet, and just listening for what God has to say to each one of us.

Genesis chapter 42

So, on Jacob hearing there was food in Egypt, he sends his boys off to go buy some.   Love the translation in the Message:

Genesis 42:1-2 When Jacob learned that there was food in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you sit around here and look at one another? I've heard that there is food in Egypt. Go down there and buy some so that we can survive and not starve to death." (The Message)

Or, in other words, get up off your lazy backsides and go do something about the food shortage rather than just sitting there whingeing about it!

So off they go to Egypt where Joseph immediately recognises them but they do not recognise him.  After all, there was no reason why they should expect to see him anyway as they thought he was dead.  So Joseph accuses them of being spies, locks them up for three days and then says that he will let all of them go except one provided they bring back their youngest brother to prove the truth of their story. Interestingly, the brother who is left in prison whilst the others return to their father was Simeon, the second eldest, not Reuben, the eldest, or one of the younger brothers.  Maybe Joseph had known that Reuben had been planning to go back and rescue him, maybe it was just a coincidence that Simeon was left in prison, maybe it was because joseph knew Simeon was the second eldest and he left the elder of the brothers to take care of the others, maybe Joseph thought Simeon had been the ring leader of the plot to get rid of him. Or maybe the conversation Joseph overheard when Reuben talked about this being God's judgement on them for the murder of Joseph led him to select Simeon.  Whatever the reason, after three days in prison (one for each year Joseph was imprisoned?),  Simeon was left in prison whilst the other brothers were freed to return to Canaan and fetch Benjamin. 

But Joseph also returned their money for the grain to their sacks before the brothers left.  This clearly shows just how much Joseph had changed.  He could easily have charged them double or more than anyone else was paying, but instead, he chooses to return their money, ensuring the family has enough food at no cost.  He is being generous and forgiving, whereas many people in the same situation would have been hard and unyielding, having held a deep drudge for all those years.  To behave like that can only have been through the grace of God at work in his life.

Firstly, the one thing that the brothers think of when Joseph accuses them of being spies is that they are being punished for what they did to Joseph.  Years have passed since they sold Joseph into slavery and yet this is the first thing that springs to mind.  They were consumed by their guilt and had probably spent all the intervening years with that nagging sense of having done something wrong, always worrying about what they had done, whether Jacob would find out and so on.  They had had no peace in all those years.

But what a change had been wrought in the brothers.  Here, Reuben accepts responsibility, stands up to his father and promises to bring Benjamin back safely or else Jacob can kill Reuben's two sons.  Yet all those years ago, he went along with the scheme to kill Joseph and did nothing to prevent harm coming to his brother.   Just as God had been working on Joseph, changing him from the proud young man to a man who knew that God was in control, a man of responsibility, of status, working to keep nations alive through a severe famine, God had also been working on the brothers, making them appreciate the wrong they had done and turning them from jealous, insecure men to men who could be relied upon and trusted, men who would do the right thing no matter what the cost.  They could have become even more hardened, have continued to close their hearts and minds to God.  I mean, men who would do this to their brother are capable of anything, and it would have been so easy so slip down the road of always trying to get their own way, being self centred and using their strength to get what they wanted. 

In the same way, God is working on each one of us believers making us more like Jesus each and every day.  For some, this may be something that takes place very quickly, for others it takes years.  It can be a quick process or a gradual one.  What matters is that we are prepared to accept God working on us, that we allow the Holy Spirit to change us from within, and that we have the patience to wait and see what God does.

Genesis chapter 41

You look at all that Joseph has been through over the past years and it is all changed in an instant.  Instead of wearing prison garb, having long hair and a beard (I know, l'm making assumptions here!), he is taken out, given a hot bath, clean clothes, a shave and a hair cut and taken to see Pharaoh. 

It would have been so easy to tell Pharaoh that yes, he could interpret dreams and then to take the reward for himself.  Instead, Joseph puts God first, makes a suggestion about putting a  wise man in charge of the problem and does not push himself forward at all.  It just shows the reality of the change in Joseph from someone who was boasting to his brothers that they would all bow down before him to someone who trusts and relies on God rather than putting himself forward. 

This is difficult to imagine in this day and age, when it seems that it is every man for himself, that you have to always be pushing yourself forward, presenting yourself in the best possible light to get on, get moving, get rich.  Imagine what a  better place the workplace would be if everyone took this attitude?  If instead of stabbing in the back a colleague, trying to outdo others all the time, get the promotion, the favour of the boss, you actually took the time and the trouble to give the glory to God, because after all, isn't he the one who has given you the ability to do that job?  Yes you may have studied and gained the qualifications, you may have applied for the job and had the experience they were looking for, were prepared to work for that pay and do those hours, but God is the one who gave you the experience, the intelligence to pass the exams, the patience to do those hours, and so on. 

Joseph could have literally have written his own blank cheque there and had Pharaoh sign it, but instead, he gave the glory to God and was rewarded accordingly.  He could have also completely turned against God, blaming him for the situation he was in..  After all, if God had never given him the dreams in the first place, then his brothers wouldn't have thrown him in the pit or sold him into slavery.  Absolutely all God's fault……….  You may think it far fetched for people to think like this, but I know from experience with my husband that God gets blamed for just about everything………..It is far easier in some instances to sit there blaming God for everything that has happened in your life than it is to turn around and give God the glory for the good things that are happening in your life.  Living life in a pit of depression is really no life at all as all you do is continually dwell on the bad things in life and rehash things that people have said or done, mistakes you have made and so on.  I know it is not necessarily as simple or straight cut as that, but that is often how it appears to me when I see my husband just wallowing in depression (can you tell he is going through a bad patch at the moment?).

How often do we do that - blame God for things that have happened or just try to sort things out ourselves?  More often than not, it is a case of forgetting God, of trusting in our own abilities to get the job done, whatever the job may be, and ignoring God in the process.  All too often I try to do things on my own, giving God barely a look in yet all things are possible through faith.  When do I recall my faith?  When do I trust in God to sort things out rather than get up and get doing myself?  Joseph didn't really  have much of a choice in the matter when he was serving Potiphar and then in prison.  He was completely dependent on others so he just had to trust God.  It seems so much harder today when we have the internet, a fast moving world where we can get just about anything instantaneouosly (or at least as quickly as Amazon will deliver;) ).   It is easier to do the job ourselves (or in my case lock myself away in my office so I don't have to listen to my husband sighing continually, moaning at anyone and everyone, being in a permanent grump and letting us all know this) rather than wait on God but maybe doing the job is something God doesn't want us to do, or maybe wants us to do in a different way.

I reckon we all need to slow down, to take the time to wait on God and to see what He would have us do.  I know this is really true of me as I always rush in to solve one problem after another without even asking God although I know this comes in part form having a family who always turn to me for help, not their father (in fact, they all come to me, hubbie as well….).  Joseph had an enforced waiting on God where he grew as a person, and really developed in his relationship with God whereas we have the choice nowadays to live life as everyone else does (rushing around, being busy, trying to achieve our own goals, our own agendas, being taken up with everything this world has to offer) or to live life focusing on God, to put Him first in our lives and to seek His will, not ours.

Genesis chapter 40

I found it interesting that the first thing Joseph said to the two men was "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams." (Genesis 40:8b, NIV).  He didn't tell them that he could interpret dreams, that he was the greatest thing since sliced bread when it came to dream interpretation and that he was always right.  No, instead he told them that dream interpretation came from God, giving God the honour and the glory.

After all he has been through, when he could have ranted and railed against God or spent his days bemoaning his lot, Joseph keeps God at the centre of his life.  He knows his own limitations and that God is the one who has all the answers, to whom all the praise is due, no matter what the situation.

How often do I do that?  Turn to God no matter what is happening around me and look to him for the answer, the solution the help and guidance?  All too readily I always try and sort things out on my own, focus on what I can do, how I can solve the problem instead of asking God.  I need to rely on God more rather than my own capabilities.

Joseph has grown so much whilst in slavery - he has changed from a boy who proudly tells his brothers his dreams in which they come off worse, and gladly tells his father what his brothers have been up to, to a man to whom others turn to for help and guidance, a man who trusts in God and knows that all he has and all he can do comes from God alone.

This is such an example of faith, of trust in God despite all the circumstances being against him, and one day, maybe I will have a fraction of the faith Joseph had.

Genesis chapter 39

 The Lord was with Joseph both when he was a slave in the house of Potiphar and also when he was falsely accused and imprisoned.  They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and here we have Potiphar's wife being scorned in no uncertain terms.  After trying unsuccessfully to seduce Joseph, she then accuses him of rape, presumably hoping to get in first with her explanation rather than have Joseph tell the other servants and, worst of all, her husband, what she tried to do.  Basically covering up one evil act with another.

Joseph, having been sold in to slavery by his brothers  was watched over by God and all that he did was blessed so that he became Potiphar's right hand man.  As The Message says, Potiphar was blessed as well as Joseph so much so that all he had to do was eat three meals a day!  He was blessed by association.  But when his wife came to him with the story of the attempted rape, he quite naturally believed her.

Joseph was thrown into prison but even there God blessed him and he was soon running the prison on behalf of the gaoler.

Sometimes, bad things happen to Christians - we or a loved one gets sick, we have marital problems, financial problems, problems with the children (or maybe we don't have children but long to have a child), job problems and so on as well as spiritual attack from the enemy (which may also take the form of illness, financial problems and so on).  We may also be persecuted for our faith, depending upon where we live in the world. 

Being a Christian is not necessarily easy.  I can't imagine for one minute that Joseph felt good being shoved down a well by his brothers, sold into slavery, working for Potiphar, being falsely accused and then thrown into prison.  Yet the bible doesn't tell us that Joseph moaned and groaned.   What it does tell us is that The Lord was with Joseph.  When he was dragged off to slavery, probably beaten and starved on the way, the Lord was with him.  When he was made to work for Potiphar, probably starting off with the lowliest, dirtiest and most unpleasant jobs (cleaning the toilets has got to be one of the worst jobs as far as I am concerned), the Lord was with him.  When Potiphar's wife accused him of rape, the Lord was with him, and when he was thrown into prison, the Lord was with him.  At no time was God absent from Joseph's life, even when Joseph was having a hard time.

Joseph may well have thought that he had been abandoned by God.  After all, how much else could go wrong in his life?  It was just one thing after another, stating with his own family, the ones you would expect to look after him, help him, support him.  But Joseph did not give in to his baser instincts.  He did not rant and rail against God, his brothers, Potiphar's wife and everyone else who had a hand in him ending up in prison.  It would have been so easy to just sit and stew, to be so mad, so unforgiving with everyone, to basically allow hate and anger to rule his life, dwelling on past (and current) misfortunes and the ones who had put him there.  Instead he just got on with life and did the best he could.  There isn't a hint of anger, hatred or unforgiveness.  Instead, Joseph gets on with the job and is blessed by God.  You have to wonder whether God would have blessed him if he was filled with anger and hatred but maybe all that had happened to Joseph was a reality check and it made him aware of how his behaviour with his brothers had let to them treating him the way they did.  Maybe he grew from his experiences, rather than letting his experiences push him down, keep him in that pit of despair and depression that so many fall into.

I reckon this is the same for each one of us.  When we get ill, when people close to us are in pain, when we have problems paying the bills, when the children get into trouble, when we have problems with college/school/work, when people mock and ridicule us because of our faith, the Lord is with us.  In the darkest hours, our deepest needs, even when we feel so lost and alone and as if no one cares, the Lord is with us, just as he was with Joseph.

We may not have the miraculous healings, the abundance of blessings in our bank account, the promotion or job we so desperately want, top marks for that exam or piece of  homework, we may still be ridiculed or persecuted despite all our prayers, but we are never, ever alone and the Lord is always, but always, with us.

Genesis chapter 38

I  read Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers and one of the stories in that is about Tamar.  Having read that story, it certainly explains, to me, the motives here and made this whole episode far more understandable.

Judah moves to Canaan, as Adullam was one of the royal cities of Canaan and was near Gath.  He married a Canaanite woman, just as Esau did, and she gave him three sons.  The first one was wicked and God took his life.  The second one refused to give his brother's widow a child, so God took his life too, and the third one was still a child at the start of this chapter.  In those times,  it was tradition that when a man died, his brother would marry the widow and that the first born child would be the heir of the deceased brother.  This is to ensure that the childless widow would have a son who would receive her late husband's inheritance.  By refusing to give Tamar a child, Onan was depriving her of her rights.  Then in not allowing her to marry his third son, Shelah, Judah was doing exactly the same thing.

So Tamar took things into her own hands and dressed as a prostitute and seduced Judah.  She became pregnant, and when accused of prostitution, confronted Judah with his act and he acknowledged that she had acted more rightly than he had in this situation.

Judah is clearly demonstrating double standards here by making use of a prostitute himself and then saying she had to be burned when accused of acting like a prostitute.  One rule for him, and another for a woman.  It was only when confronted with evidence that he was the father, that he realised what had happened. A lot of people show double standards and it is so easy to criticise someone for doing, for instance, as Tamar did, yet not criticising Judah for making use of a prostitute.  It is easy to find fault with someone for gossiping, when you actually tell another person the news of what someone has been up to, just passing on news, definitely not gossiping yourself, no way….What about when someone close to you acts very selfishly, demanding their own way all the time, and then you go and get cross when someone pushes in front of you in a traffic jam, or in a queue at a shop?  Isn't that the same thing?  It’s far easier to spot the sin in someone else's life than it is to see it in ourselves.

Interestingly, Jesus is descended from Judah through Tamar, so it shows God used this even though prostitution is condemned as a serious sin.  Judah did a turn around in later chapters, and became the son Jacob must surely have been proud of through his later behaviour.

Genesis chapter 37

Joseph was his father's favourite and his brothers knew it.  Joseph also reported everything they did to their father, and because he told Jacob all the bad things they did, they held a grudge against  Joseph.  The thing is, though, that if they had not been doing anything bad, then Joseph would only have had good things to report.  They obviously perceived Joseph as a tell tale, a goodie two shoes doing everything  their father asked and were jealous of his favourite son status.

It is difficult if you love one child more than another to remain impartial, but it is essential to try and do this so as to be fair to each child.  I always try to make sure that we treat all our children the same, and I know they watch to make sure one is not getting a better, more expensive birthday present than another, for instance.  I know they keep track of things like this from comments they have mace in the past. 

Joseph here seems to have taken great pride in telling his brothers all about his dreams, a complete difference from later on in Genesis when he gives God the glory.  He has the gift of being able to interpret dreams from God, but here, he uses it to score against his brothers, to make himself look good.  It is not until he has suffered imprisonment, false accusation and all sorts that he finally learns to trust n God, to give Him the glory.  It took suffering for God to be able to use Joseph and it all started with Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery.  God then turned this wicked act into something that saved an entire nation.

Sometimes, when we are going through trials, when there is illness, death, financial problems, marital problems, job difficulties, trouble at school/college, it seems like God is far away, that He doesn't care and is leaving us to fend for ourselves.  I am sure there were times when Joseph thought about that as he was taken away into slavery and captivity.  I know the things that I have been through have made me a more sympathetic person, kinder, more accepting, although I often wanted the things I was going through to magically disappear.  God used the troubles we go through to refine us, to make us more like Christ and to turn us into the people he has always designed us to be.

Genesis chapter 36

This is about Esau and how took wives from the Canaanite women, then married a cousin, and moved away from Jacob so they could both have enough land  to support them. 

They say you can choose your friends but not your relatives, and this is a classic example of two brothers who did not get along.  Esau was his father's favourite and Jacob the favourite of his mother.  Jacob, who seems to have been a real schemer, took Esau's birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew and ended up having to flee for his life to Laban.

You would think being family, they would trust one another, respect one another, but not so in this case.   Jacob tricked Esau and Esau's descendants became some of the fiercest enemies of Israel and even today, thousands of years later,  Esau's descendants surround Israel (Edom is now part of Jordan, bordering Israel) and are causing trouble and friction to say the least. 

Genesis chapter 35

How can we worship the one true living God when we have idols in our hearts?  People, possessions, things that take the place of God in our hearts and put him in second place?  Like Jacob and his family, we need to take a good long hard look at ourselves, at our hopes and dreams, our lifestyle, our priorities. 

Is there anything in our lives that takes us away from God?  That we put above God in our lives?  Is work our priority and God second place?   Is getting that new job or promotion the thing that occupies our mind to the exclusion of all else?  Are we so wrapped up in the lives of our spouses and children that we cannot see God?  Are we always worrying about finances, about the bills coming in, the expenses we have to meet?  What about church - do we spend more time daydreaming in church, looking around at what people are wearing, who is or isn't there, than in worship and praise?  Is our worship half hearted as we keep thinking of the things we have done or need to do, or remembering past hurts and grudges?

We need to get rid of anything like that which is in our hearts, to focus our attention on God and God alone, and take the worries, the cares, the problems to Him.  

Genesis chapter 34

This is the sort of story that could easily be made into a film.  There is love (well, passion at any rate), pride, sex, deceit, betrayal, lies, violence, greed, murder - all the hallmarks of what apparently describes a good film or makes for excellent newspaper headlines in the tabloids. 

Dinah is raped and Jacob's sons, especially Simeon and Levi, are really upset about this, understandably.  They feel that their sister has been defiled and that because they have been set aside by God, they are special, holy, a cut above the others, better than the townspeople of Shechem.  So they trick the men of Shechem into getting circumcised - the thought of getting their hands on the flocks and herds of Jacob and his sons persuades the townsmen to undergo this painful procedure.  Then when they are still recovering, Simeon and Levi walk into town and kill all the men.  The rest of the brothers then follow on, taking the little children and wives captive, looting and plundering everything they could lay their hands on.  Jacob is appalled, saying that his name would now be mud and all the inhabitants of the land would join together to destroy him and his household.

It’s a case of two wrongs do not make a right.  Repaying evil with evil is not the right thing to do.  How can theft and murder be the right response to rape?  Yes, it is easy to sit here and take the moral high ground, and if I had a sister , or if it had been my daughter, I may well think differently.  For instance,  Christians in Pakistan are 2.5% of the population.  Women believers there are often raped, young girls and women may be kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam and then married to a much older man.   If Christian women work as servants in a rich Muslim's house, they are treated like dirt and often beaten, maltreated, raped.  Many are raped and then thrown onto the streets where they have no choice but to turn to prostitution.  I was reading only last week of a pregnant mother who was brutally beaten up as a warning to the family to stop trying to get the police to prosecute the rapists of their 12 year old niece.  The mother (who was five months pregnant) ended up losing the baby.  The family are Christians, and the rapists are Muslims.

It is truly heartbreaking to hear of God's people being treated this way, His sons and daughters being persecuted and I just sit here warm and cosy in my nice house, in front of my computer when their faith, their lack of hatred against their oppressors, their warmth, their courage, their smiles in the face of persecution, puts me to shame.

And what about Dinah?  She is mentioned only briefly in the bible, firstly to tell us she has been born (Genesis 30:21) and then here where she is raped, given to Shechem and then nothing more is heard of her.  Imagine her reaction when after being raped her own brothers agree to give her in marriage to the man who attacked her! She is actually being kept in Shechem's house when the men of the town are killed, and her brothers then take her back to the camp.  And Jacob?  He is more concerned about what will happen to him and his household than about what has happened to Dinah.

Evil is never the right response.  The consequences of this action followed Simeon and Levi and their descendants ended up losing that part of the Promised Land that they had been given.  We are told to keep the peace as far as possible though (1 Peter 3:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it - KJV) and whilst this doesn't mean being a doormat and letting others attack us without taking any steps to defend ourselves, it certainly doesn't mean taking revenge in such a brutal and deceitful way.

Genesis chapter 33

If Jacob was still worried about how Esau would receive him, the way he split up the group clearly shows his preferences.  First in the line of fire were the servant wives and their children, then Leah and her children and finally Jacob and Rachel.  Yet the precautions were unnecessary as Esau greeted Jacob with a big hug.  Whilst time way from each other had caused the one brother to worry over his reception, the other had come to terms with their disagreement and was no longer bitter. 

This was such an answer to prayer that I bet Jacob never even expected in his wildest dreams.  It just shows that God can do even more than we could ever imagine:

Ephesians 1:18-21 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,  and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (NASB)

Sometimes, we can worry ourselves silly over things that happen, or that we think are going to happen, and yet God has everything under his control, in His hands.  We can spend a lifetime worrying over every single thing that happens to us, worrying about our jobs (or lack of a job), our homes (or lack of a home), our spouses (or lack of a spouse), our children (or lack of children), the world, the man next door, whether it will rain tomorrow or not, anything and everything.  But all this ignores God in our lives, ignores the fact that each one of us believers is filled with the Holy Spirit, our comforter and guide, and that Jesus himself told us to cast all our burdens on him for his yoke is light and his burden easy.

I know I for one need to spend more time in prayer, to take all things to God, not just the big ones, or the ones that seem more important or more worrying.  God knows our hearts, knows the things that make us smile, the ones that cause us pain, and through him, we can do anything.  The arm of the Lord is not too short to deal with my problems, or even the problems in the world.  I just need to learn to talk to Him, to take things to Him and to have en ever deepening relationship with him.

Genesis chapter 32

When Jacob last saw Esau, he had just robbed Esau of his father's blessing and was basically running to Laban to get away from Esau and save his skin.  Now, many years later, he returns and is very worried about how Esau will treat him.  So the first thing he does is pray to God, which kind of makes my cynicism in the last chapter look misplaced!

It is such an example as well, because how often do problems arise in life and we try and sort them out ourselves, without even mentioning them to God, let alone praying about them?  And yes, I know God knows about them anyway since He knows everything about us, but that isn't the point.  In any relationship there has to be two way conversation for the relationship to work.  You can't be married to someone and not talk to them, you can't have children and not speak to them (imagine the chaos if you did that and let the children do what they wanted, when they wanted!!!) and in the same way, you can't have a relationship with God and not pray.

Prayer should be the first thing we do in an situation, not the one thing we do only after we have exhausted all other options and not come up with a solution ourselves. I have a habit of doing this, trying to sort everything out myself, getting all stressed and anxious, feeling like the weight of the world is on my shoulders and that no one else cares or is bothered, when all I  have to do is pray, take it to God and ask Him to handle it.  I have learned that God can be trusted, no matter what the problem.  I now He always answers my prayers, maybe not the way I want, maybe not at the time I want, but each one is answered, and when I have doubts, I just remember the 1,000 year rule (a 1,000 years is as a day to the Lord and a day is as a 1,000 years therefore if 1 day = 1,000 years, 14.4 minutes = 10 years!) and try to have patience.

Here, Jacob is reminding God of his promises, of how He said that Jacob would have descendants as numerous as the sand, because after all, if Esau killed Jacob, then Jacob would have no more children so would potentially never be the father of many descendants.  After all, Jacob has for many years been used to fending for himself, sorting things out his way, on his terms but now he knows he cannot sort out the problem of Esau on his own.  He needs the help of God to put things right between himself and his brother whom he wronged all those years ago. 

However, to help smooth the way, Jacob prepares gifts of herds of sheep, goats, cows, bulls  and camels.  The night before he is due to meet Esau, he takes his wives and children to a place of safety, splits his herds into two so if one is lost, he will still have the other, and spends the night on his own where he wrestles with a man until daybreak. This man was an angel of the Lord and he was sent by God at a time when Jacob had nowhere else to turn.  There was absolutely nothing Jacob could do about Esau.  Esau's reaction to the return of Jacob, his gifts, his wives and family was  a huge unknown.   Jacob might try to do all he could to ensure a warm welcome (or at least a safe one where Esau did not try to kill him in revenge for stealing his birth right) but he could not control Esau's reaction in any way.  It was completely out of his hands and all he could do was ask God.

So God sends his angel and the angel demonstrates by wrestling with Jacob that God is in control, that He is the stronger of the two, that you have to grab onto God with both hands and not let go, no matter what happens, and keep tight hold to receive the blessing of God.   Jacob wrestles with the angel all night and in the morning, the angel touches Jacob's hip and leaves him with a permanent limp.  This is a reminder to Jacob of his relationship with God and that he can do nothing on his own, his strength coming from God alone.  Then God also gives Jacob a new name, Israel, which means "he struggles with God".  Just compare that with Jacob, which means "he grasps the heel" or, in other words, trickster or deceiver.

Genesis chapter 31

Trust again is the theme here, although I wonder just how much Jacob would have actually trusted God if things weren't getting difficult with Laban.  Maybe it is me just being cynical here, but Jacob and Laban were both schemers, always trying to outwit the other, and if everything had been good between them, I just wonder whether Jacob would have upped and left as he did.

Of course, it is easy to sit here and be cynical about someone's motives, to make a judgment based on a few words as, after all, isn't that what we do a lot of the time anyway, judge people based on what they are wearing, what someone has told us, the impression we get?  Here I am, questioning Jacob and his obedience to God, his motives, his reasonings, when chances are, he did listen, and he did obey and would have done exactly the same no matter what the situation between him and Laban.

But it is not just Jacob who has to trust in God at this stage in his life, it is also Leah and Rachel who are being asked to trust too.  They are having to leave the only home they have never known to travel to a distant land, to meet relatives they have only heard of, and it will be all strange and new.  So much so, in fact, that Rachel decides to take Laban's household gods, idols he worships, along with her.  Se doesn't know God as Jacob does.  Maybe she thinks Jacob is imagining things when he hears God talk to him, maybe she just wants to hedge her bets.   After all, a little extra insurance on the spiritual side of things can only be a good thing, right?  She is off to a strange land and wants to take something familiar with her, something she is used to having around, a comfort from home.

Mind you, there was apparently a custom in those days that the person who possessed the household gods was the heir, so there may well have been a completely different motive for Rachel taking the idols.

We all do things like that.  There are things, people, places in our lives that we are fond of, that we are used to and do not want to do without.  Sometimes these take the place of God in our lives, they push everything else behind them as we allow them to take priority in our lives. Like, for instance, when I just have to check my emails before I start reading my bible in a morning and before I know it, it is time to make my son's breakfast, take him to school and then start work….and where is my bible reading in all this, my spending a quiet time with God?  I allow the things of this world to push god to second, third or an even lower place in my life.

Yet I have learned over the years that God can be trusted, even when I allow the things of this world to take priority.  I may not have the experiences that Jacob and others have had, I may not hear God's voice telling me to go and do this, that or the other, but I get the nudges, the prompts, and every so often, I hear God speaking to me, reassuring me, comforting me.  I trust in Him because I know He can be trusted, that when He says He will do something, He does it.  I know He answers all my prayers, not necessarily the way I want, I have to say, but I know whatever God does for me, is for me best, because He has a plan for me, a plan for my good not for my harm, and He is with me no matter what I am doing, even though at times, I feel so very alone.  Just as He was with Jacob all those years ago, even when Jacob was plotting and scheming, trying to outwit Laban.   I know I don't always trust in God as fully as I should when I try to sort things out for myself on many an occasion but I do know that He is always there, always by my side, watching over me, guiding me, leading me, if I only but stopped to listen and hear His voice.  I know that no matter what happens,  God is faithful.

So trust in God is a part of what and who I am just as it became a part of Jacob, and Abraham, and all those others mentioned in Hebrews.  Is it part of you?

Genesis chapter 30

The competition between Leah and Rachel, when Jacob becomes a pawn, a trophy between the two of them.  I know it was the tradition on those days to have your husband sleep with your servant and then any child would be deemed to be yours, but I really wouldn't want my husband sleeping with any other woman, no matter who she was.  Yet here are Leah and Rachel, trading Jacob between them and using their servants to get more children. 

It is a case of not having the patience to wait on God, to trust Him to provide. Easier said than done, I now, as I sit here criticising.  There are many times when I take matters into my own hands, to do what I think God wants me to without waiting to hear from him.  Sometimes, it is better to just sit and wait on God, to spend time quietly in prayer rather than rush into doing something that may well be the right thing, but it might not necessarily be at the right time.  I struggle to do this, as I know I have a habit of wanting to be busy, to be doing something, and I have trouble just sitting doing nothing.  So this is a real lesson to me to have patience, to wait on God and not to rush in and do what I think is best.  After all, God knows the big picture, He can see yesterday, today and tomorrow and He knows the right time and the right action to take.

Then there is the trickery and scheming between Jacob and Laban.  Jacob has had enough and wants out, so he proposes that he leave and take all the speckled or spotted sheep and goats and every dark coloured lamb with only the pure white sheep and goats being Laban's.  So Laban removes all the speckled and spotted billy goats, nanny goats and sheep, and any dark lamb, moves them three days walk form Jacob and has his sons tend them.  Out of sight, out of mind, leaving the sheep and goats that Jacob has agreed are his on the flocks Jacob is caring for.  But Jacob is a trickster too, and he ensures that all the offspring of the remaining sheep and goats are speckled and posted by placing branches of poplar, almond and plane trees with the bark stripped off near the drinking water for the sheep and goats.  He also placed these in front of where the sturdier animals mated (but not the weaker animals), and as a result of all this, the young were speckled and spotted, and the feebler animals were not, so Laban had those.  Jacob ended up becoming richer and richer as a result.

Again, this is a case of taking matters into your own hands to achieve the desired result rather than waiting on God.  However, since it really is an old wives' tale with the stripped bark affecting the markings on the offspring, All Jacob's scheming came to nought, and the only reason he was successful was to due the grace and blessing of God.

How often do we do things ourselves which turn out successful only because God has had a hand in it, and not because of anything we do?  Do we ever stop to consider God's will for our lives, for this moment, for this task or do we always do what we think best and forget to ask God?  I now I do this all to often.  I get in a mess and try to sort it out myself, I am snowed under with work, and priorities it myself, I need to de things and make the best I can of it, yet God hardly ever factors into my thinking.    I know things often work out, but really, that is God at work behind the scenes rather than anything I have done.  I can only do the things I do because of how God has gifted me, yet how often do I stop to give the thanks and the praise, to seek His guidance?  

I know it is not a case of asking God about every little thing, even though He is interested in every aspect of our lives, because after all He gave each of us a mind and expects us to use it.  But what about the big stuff?  The problems?  The worries?  Or even the thanks for the good things that happen?  All too often like Jacob we just muddle along, doing what we can to earn a living and God never enters the equation yet He blesses us anyway.  How amazing and awesome is the love and care He lavishes on us often completely undeserved.

Genesis chapter 29

Jacob is tricked into marrying Leah rather than Rachel, but is then given Rachel as a wife in return for a further seven years work.

It is ironic that Jacob, who tricked his brother out of his inheritance and blessing, is now in turn tricked himself.  He now knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of trickery and he was probably not impressed. Yet Jacob abides by his word, and even though he was tricked, because he loves Rachel so much he agrees to work a further seven years for Laban.

It is hard at times to have patience.  We live in a fast paced world where instant gratification is expected and taken for granted.  If you want something, you take it, or you buy it, steal it, use your credit card.  Instant access to whatever we want. Waiting for something is exceptional these days, and to work for something for seven years, then to be tricked and find out you have to work another seven years unheard of.   Jacob does all this without complaining, he doesn't moan and grumble, mutter under his breath about how deceitful some people are, and how he has already worked his fingers to the bone for seven long years so why should he have to work another seven years when he was promised Rachel as his wife.  No, Jacob just gets on with life, accepts what Laban is offering, spends a week's honeymoon with Leah and then marries Rachel and works the extra seven years.  I don't know as I would have had that much forbearance or patience.  I mean, if you had worked long and hard for seven years, would you have just sat there and agreed to work another seven long, hard years when you had been tricked into marrying the wrong sister without bearing a grudge, or harbouring some ill feeling towards Laban or even Leah for going along with it?

This all shows the importance of having patience, of trusting in God no matter what and the importance of being honest and truthful in all our dealings, whether it is with God, family, friends or strangers,  and in keeping our promises.  Not always an easy thing to do in this day and age.

Then look how God keeps an eye on Leah.  She sees that Leah isn't loved by Jacob, so he ensures she ends up with four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah.  Rachel, who has the love of Jacob, has no children.  God compensated Leah for the lack of love from her husband with the love of her sons, whereas Rachel had no need of the love of her children as she had Jacob's love.  Of course, it is not as straightforward as that, it is far more complex but at the end of the day, Leah was blessed by God, especially when you consider that Jesus is descended from Judah.

Genesis chapter 28

Genesis 28:8-9 Esau then realised how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had. (NIV)

Esau overhears Rebekah and Isaac discussing Jacob and the Canaanite women and he realises then how grieved his parents were at his choice of wives.  So to please his parents, he marries one of the daughters of Abrahams's son, Ishmael.

I wonder though, why it took Esau so long to realise this - after all, surely he knew from the things Isaac and Rebekah had said and done over the years that they did not approve of the Canaanites?  Maybe he was so enamoured of each of his wives that he married them regardless of what his parents thought.   Maybe he was more concerned with his own wants and desires than in respecting his parents wishes and it was not until he actually overheard Rebekah and Isaac talking that he fully appreciated what he had done.  Maybe he had just acted instead of thinking things through, never even bothering to think  about whether he should marry a Canaanite or not. So, when he overhears his parents talking, he starts to consider their point of view and goes for the quick fix solution, taking a bride that they will approve of. 

Esau's third marriage is, to me, somewhat like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. After all, Esau could not undo his marriages, the two wives were there living with him and the rest of the family, and now he has a third wife to contend with.  For most men, one wife would be more than enough, but here he is taking on a third (kind of makes me wonder whether he is very brave or very stupid!  Mind you, Esau with three wives is nothing compared to Solomon!!).    But then, don't we all do this, try and fix something quickly?  When we do something wrong, we try and put it right in the simplest and quickest way, but this is not necessarily what God would have us do, or at least not in the way we try to do it.  

It is easy to carry on our lives regardless of others, giving no consideration to what they are thinking or feeling, how they are reacting to the things we have done or said.   After all, we have a "right" to be happy, don't we? Then when we find out we have hurt others or disappointed them,  we try a quick fix to put things right.  But as believers, we have a responsibility here on earth to live our lives as God would have us live them, to be an example of the love of Jesus and to be his disciples.  Everything we do is liable to be held up to scrutiny by others when they know we are a Christian.  I know my children and husband watch the things I do and say, and they will pull me up if they think I am not behaving as a Christian should - which is both a help and a hindrance!  It keeps me on my toes (except those occasions when I lose my temper or am so wrapped up in work and stuff that I forget to watch what I am doing or saying), and means I must always be aware of what I am doing or saying, of how my behaviour will effect others and whether or not I am really displaying the love of Christ when I get cross and crabby or moan and grumble. 

I'll admit, there are many times I would do or say something I shouldn't but the knowledge that my children are watching stops me.  There are also many times when I do or say something I shouldn't despite the fact that they are watching.  I am definitely far from perfect. Yet I know God is always watching too, whether my children are there or not, but there are times when I ignore God, when I just go ahead and do what I want rather than what I should do but He always gives me a nudge, and brings it to my attention.  And I should be giving God the priority here, knowing that He is always there watching me, caring for me, and putting Him first in my life.

Meanwhile, Jacob sets off of for his uncle Laban's house, and on the way there he stops at Luz, where God appears to him in a dream. 

Genesis 28:13-15 Then God was right before him, saying, "I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you."  (The Message)

Jacob is amazed, in awe, at these unconditional promises from God.  But look at his reply to God:

Genesis 28:20-22 Jacob vowed a vow: “If God stands by me and protects me on this journey on which I’m setting out, keeps me in food and clothing, and brings me back in one piece to my father’s house, this God will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives. And everything you give me, I’ll return a tenth to you.” (The Message)

Jacob has seen angels ascending and descending into heaven, evidence of God's hand at work, visions of heaven and the life to come, yet he has a conditional response.   His heart has not yet been changed and he promises God will be his god, the stone he has set up will mark the place where God lives and he will give God 10% of everything God gives him if, and only if:

• God stands by him;

• God protects him;
• God keeps in him food and clothing; and
• God returns him safely to his father's house.

How many times do we do that?  Put conditions on our following God?  Agree to follow Him and only Him if he heals our loved one, if we get that new job, if we move into that house, if our children start coming to church with us, if He gets us out of whatever mess we are on, if...if...if.

But God has already given us Jesus, had His one and only Son pay the price for our sins, the mean and rotten and often disgusting things we have each done.  We have the promise of eternity in heaven because of what Jesus has done (and nothing can change that), yet so often we try and barter our worship, our praise, our service.  

Genesis chapter 27

So here we have Rebekah plotting and scheming with Jacob to deprive Esau of his blessing from Isaac.  Esau is the elder son and yet Jacob is Rebekah's favourite.  So she dresses Jacob up in goat's skin and makes him wear Esau's clothes so he will smell and feel like Esau.  Isaac is fooled, even though he spots the fact that it is Jacob's voice he can hear, he is convinced by the goatskin and the smell of the clothing.

So Isaac blesses Jacob:

Genesis 27:28-29 (NIV)

May God give you heaven’s dew

    and earth’s richness –

    an abundance of grain and new wine.

May nations serve you

    and peoples bow down to you.

Be lord over your brothers,

    and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.

May those who curse you be cursed

    and those who bless you be blessed.’

That is some blessing, isn't it?  It didn't really leave much room for manoeuvre when Isaac found out he had been tricked and had blessed the wrong son.  After all, if Jacob was going ton be blessed with rich harvests, have nations serve him and people bow down to him, his brothers serve him and the people who curse him be cursed whilst those who bless him are blessed, exactly what was there left for Esau? 

Genesis 27:39-40 (NIV)

 His father Isaac answered him,

‘Your dwelling will be

    away from the earth’s richness,

    away from the dew of heaven above.

You will live by the sword

    and you will serve your brother.

But when you grow restless,

    you will throw his yoke

    from off your neck.’

So Esau is told instead that he will not have the riches his brother has, but instead he will live by the sword and serve his brother until such time as he throws off the authority of his brother over him.

But God had already promised great things for Jacob:

Genesis 25:23  The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the elder will serve the younger.’ (NIV)

Maybe she had forgotten this, maybe she saw an opportunity to make the words of God come true, whatever the reason, she and Jacob took matters into their own hands rather than wait for God.  They took the easy route, the shortcut, to try and turn the promises of God into reality.  Yes, God saw to it that the blessing came out on Jacob not Esau, He allowed their scheming to succeed, but in reality, is this really how God was going to do things?

All too often we do the same.  We lose patience, time passes and it seems like God has forgotten us or that He no longer has any use for us. What about the times we pray for others, for healing, for them to get that job, or whatever it may be and yet tome and time again, nothing changes.  The sickness is still there, there is no job on the horizon, no money, no change in a particular situation.  How long, Lord, how long will this go on?  Yet God is right there beside each and every one of us, all the time:

Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)

Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me

    and the light become night around me,’

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

    the night will shine like the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

Matthew 28:20b And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age  (NIV)

There is nowhere we can go where God is not.  He is all around us, everywhere we go, everywhere we look, we just need to open our eyes to see.  If He has promised us something, anything, then we can rest assured that we will get that. No matter how long ago the promise was made.  His patience his endless, unlike ours, and He always, but always, keeps His word. 

He promised that Jacob would be the stronger of the twins, that his elder brother would serve Him and yet Rebekah was not prepared to wait any longer.  Maybe she thought this was a heaven sent opportunity, that God had fixed things so she could get Jacob the blessing of his father.  Who knows what she thought?  She probably thought she was acting for the best, but how many times do we do things that we think are for the best and things just end up getting messy?  It’s a case of learning to trust in God, to allow Him to provide for us as He has promised He will and not be in a rush to take things into our own hands. 

All too often I do this.  There is a problem and I sit there thinking of how to resolve it instead of seeking God's will, His guidance.  After all, God has given me the brains to be able to sort all sorts of things out, so why not just work out a solution to the problem myself instead of bothering God again?  But God is interested in every single aspect of our lives.  He never leaves us on our own, He is always there with us, right beside us. Oh, the times I try and sort things out myself yet all I need to do is turn and seek God.  I may not get the answer I want, but I know I will get an answer so I need to have faith, to trust in God and to be patient. 

I think what the book of Genesis is teaching me more than anything is trusting in God and getting my heart right with Him.  The people I am reading about - Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah and so on - are held up as men and women of faith and yet so often when they had a choice, they made the wrong one, they relied on their own instincts rather than trusting in God.  I know I often do the very same thing, but the great comfort is that through the sacrifice of Jesus, I have been put right with God, despite all the times when I make the wrong choice or decision, when I choose to rely on my own abilities, my own resources, rather than trusting in God and leaving things in His hands.

Genesis chapter 26

Two things here struck me. 

Firstly, this is about trusting God.  The chapter starts off with the Lord telling Isaac to avoid Egypt and go live where He tells him and then He will bless Isaac because Abraham, Isaac's father, obeyed the Lord and kept his commandments.  Isaac here followed the example of his father, and he trusted in God.  As a result, his crops harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, because God blessed him, even though there was a severe famine.

Secondly, Isaac repeats exactly the same thing that Abraham did - he claims that Rebekah is his sister just as Abraham told others that Sarah was his sister, not his wife.  I reckon he learned this from Abraham, or at least got to know that his father had used this excuse.

Have you ever watched children copying their parents?  They copy their speech, their mannerisms.  Someone I know told me of her grandson who at the age of 4 threw his wellington boot across the floor and said "F*** this!", obviously having heard one of his parents say that.  The times I have seen my children do something and I know it is because they have seen me or my husband do the very same thing. 

To me,  this is a warning to try and live my life in such a way that my children will see me do nothing bad, nothing that is wrong.  I am very often unsuccessful in this, but I would hate for my behaviour, my actions to cause my children to stumble, to do something they clearly shouldn’t, just because they saw me do it.   I know they are older now, after all our youngest is 15 so they are developing their own mannerisms, attitudes and responses to situations and people, but they still notice how we as parents behave.   It is such a responsibility bringing up children and yet such a blessing and a joy.   Children follow the example of their parents. 

And here, Isaac is following the example of his father, both the good and the bad.  Yes, he is showing great faith, but he is also showing that often he relies on his own wits rather than turning to God.  That such an example today, as  you can clearly see both Abraham and Isaac mess up at times, go their own way and get it wrong yet they are both such men of faith.  But their hearts were right with God, and when your heart is right with God, everything else falls into place, no matter how much you may mess up your life.  

It's a reminder that God forgives us when we mess up.  After all, look how Abraham and Isaac are held up as men of faith.  Look at David, a man after God's own heart yet he was an adulterer, a murderer.  Nothing we have done is so bad that God cannot forgive us when we truly repent.

And look at the response of Isaac to the things that happened to him.  He did not take the credit himself for the abundant harvest or the growth in his riches.  No, instead he gave thanks to God, especially after God appeared to him in a dream:

Genesis 26:23-25 (The Message)

 From there he went up to Beersheba. That very night God appeared to him and said, 

   I am the God of Abraham your father; 

      don't fear a thing because I'm with you. 

   I'll bless you and make your children flourish 

      because of Abraham my servant. 

 Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.

How often do I remember to thank God?  To give Him the praise and the glory when things go well, when I get paid on time, when unexpected bills (and expected ones) are not a problem?  This is a reminder to give thanks at all times, even when things go badly. Giving praise to God also takes your mind of your worries and gets it back focused on God.  When you lift your eyes to heaven, the things of this world are not as important as they seem when you have your eyes on the world and all that it offers and holds.

Genesis chapter 25

This is about settling for what you want when you want it, rather than being prepared to wait on God.

Here, Esau was so hungry, he wanted his meal immediately and was not prepared to wait.  In exchange for instant access to food, immediate satisfaction of his cravings, his wants, he exchanged his birthright, the blessings that would be his as firstborn,  for a bowl of stew.  How often do we do that?  We want something, "need" it (or we think we do), and when we don't get it from God, we go out and try to get it ourselves.  It’s like I tell my children at Christmas: they may want something, but they don't necessarily need it.  Our youngest son may want the latest games console, or that new game that has just been released, but he really doesn't need it.

That's probably why there is the saying that patience is a virtue (and the full version, as my family know only too well from me, is "Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can.  Seldom found in woman, and never in a man!").  It takes patience to wait on God and in this fast paced world, we are used to living fast, getting immediate access to whatever we want, we are always busy, always looking for the next job, the next thing to do, and have very little time to stop and wait.  That's one of the reasons why I like to go out at the weekend with my children, because it gives me time to stop and listen, to look at the world God has created and to give him the thanks and the praise , to get some rest and some time away from the computer, and to spend much needed time with my boys and girl.  Yet life has been so hectic recently I just haven’t had time to stop and take a breath, let alone go out with my son (since he is the only one left  at home at the weekend).  Still, we have the joys of French homework to do together plus biology revision today!  I know how to spoil him!

But in the west, life is one big jumble at times, rushing here there and everywhere and very few of us have time to just sit and wait on God.  We want everything instantly, and when our prayers don't get answered, we try and sort everything out ourselves.  But just because we don't get an immediate answer to our prayers doesn't mean God hasn't heard us, or is ignoring us.  Sometimes, the answer is "yes", other times we are told to wait, or we might be told the answer is "no", or "yes but not just yet".  God knows what we want, and He also knows what we need, and the two are not necessarily the same.  But one thing we can be sure of is that God always answers our prayers.  And we need to make sure we don't exchange the future blessings of God for immediate gratification.

Esau lost out on so much, yet even before he was born God knew that was going to happen as he told Rebekah that the elder son, Esau, would serve the younger, Jacob.  In the same way, knows each one of us and exactly what will happen to us.  ?Yes, we have the choice of free will, we can choose to turn this way, that way, to do this, or that or the other, but God knows which way we will be going, what our decision will be, but He allows us to choose and does not force His will on us.  After all, Esau could have thought things over and decided that giving up his birth right for a bowl of stew was just too high a price to pay.  Similarly, we can think things through and decide to follow God or not.  Imagine how the persecuted Christians in other countries must feel.  After all, as far as they are concerned, following Jesus could mean rape, torture, death even yet they do not consider this to be too high a price to pay.  What are we prepared to give up for Jesus?  What price would we pay to ensure we spend eternity in heaven?