Jacob Trying To Help God Out

01/04/2007

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Jacob trying to help God out

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Genesis 30:37-43

            Message of the verses:  “37 ¶  Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods.  38  He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink.  39  So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.  40  Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.  41  Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods; 42  but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.  43  So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.”

            There was still a lot of the old Jacob in Jacob as he tried to help God bless him by using a trick that he thought would help his sheep and goats produce more of the kind that would belong to him and not produce the kind that would belong to Laban.  It was God who was blessing him because He told Jacob that he would bless him and God does not need any help.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “As stated above God needs no help from anyone to work His plan out, and there are times when I as a believer try to help God out in similar ways that Jacob was doing in the verses above.  Oh I don’t breed sheep and goats, but there are times when I will call Tim to see how his jobs are going to see if perhaps the Lord has a job for me working for Tim, and I used to call Gary each week to see if he had any news about our funds in Canada.  If I am going to trust the Lord for all aspects of my life then I must trust Him and seek God’s Face to find out if He wants me to do this or that like Proverbs tells me to do and then He will direct my path.

The Word of God has been very convicting to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Trust God to direct my path and to guide me in all that He wants me to do, and not to help God.