Jacobs Protection & Ploting

02/01/2007

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Jacob’s Protection and Plotting

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Genesis 32:1-8

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him.  2  Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God’s camp." So he named that place Mahanaim.

3 ¶  Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.  4  He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; 5  I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."’"  6  The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."  7  Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; 8  for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.’”

In verse one Jacob saw an army of God’s angels who were there to protect him and all of his family and that is why Jacob named this place Mahanaim, which means two camps, one for Jacob and one for God.  However Jacob quickly forgot this protection and began to do something that came very natural for him and that is he began to fear and to plot, which showed his lack of faith.  He sent some of his servants to tell Esau that he was coming to meet him and the servants came back with the story that Esau was coming with 400 of his men and this sent Jacob into a panic attack and he began to fear and to plot by dividing his camps into two camps and forgot about the two camps he experienced in verse one, his camp and God’s camp to protect Jacob.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must again bring some personal things into this meaning of Scripture for me today.  For one thing I can see a lot of Jacob in my own life, the part of Jacob that has at times a tendency to plot and not trust the Lord to see me through some of these difficulties that God has sent me into, which I think is for the reason to help me be conformed to the image of His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  I know what I want to do as a result of these trials that God has sent me into, and that is completely trust the Lord to see me through them and not to act in anyway on my own to “help” out God.  I am sure that there are things that He has for me to do, and I must be open to the leading of God’s Spirit to show me what to do, but in the mean time to wait. 

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

My Steps of Faith Today:  To completely trust the Lord with the situation that I find myself in at this time of my life.  To ask the Lord to continue to teach me contentment and to direct my path that He wants me to follow.