Genesis 31: Man plans, God laughs

Well today's message kind of involves chapter 30 too, but I left it for today for purposes that will soon become clear!

In Genesis 30, Laban tries to ruin Jacob by taking all the speckled flocks (the ones whose offspring is vowed to Jacob, and putting 'a three-day journey between himself and Jacob' (Gen 30:36)

Now, in Genesis 31 we see God's reply to Laban's plan when Jacob tells Rachel "God has not allowed him to harm me...God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me' Gen 31:8/9

What a lovely verse that shows us how we don't have to worry about things, just do what we know is right to do, and do it with excellence. God will provide for us as he did for Jacob, and of course Laban's plans all came to nothing in the end: take your eyes off of your problems and put them onto God.

Later on in the chapter, God spoke to Laban in a dream, confirming that it was indeed He who had provided in this way with the speckled flocks. Again this amazes me how God is willing to get involved in the run of the mill, everyday parts of our lives: awesome.


After these verses Jacob and Rachel flee from Laban, but Rachel steals his idol, and he comes looking for it. He searches everywhere, but she is sat on it and says to him:

Genesis 31:35 Rachel said to her father "don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period" Gen 31:35

Now I'll tell you what I love about this: God did not reveal Rachel's sin. She was in the wrong, and did something very silly and very ungodly, but he was gracious and merciful towards her, knowing she could well be killed if she was found out. This points to something I have been thinking a lot of lately: God is a God of justice, but I am also beginning to believe that does not mean he will bring out the worst consequences for everything we do wrong. We sin every day, and often (I believe as long as our heart is right) he will not only forgive us, but protect us from the worst case consequences of what we've done wrong. I can't say that with 100% confidence yet, but watch this space because it's one of the things I am searching the scriptures for.

Genesis 30: God wants to give you what you want!

Gen 30:15: 'God listened to Leah'

Just like in yesterday's blog, we find our awesome God listening to, and granting the prayers of, his child. What I love is that this is Leah's fifth child he blesses her with, which to me speaks of how God is a god of abundance; it's not like Leah was childless and destitute, but God didn't turn round and say "you've got four, don't be so needy all the time". Inside I know my mental picture of God doesn't add up to the one I see here- I struggle to believe he wants to bless me abundantly,and do good things for me, giving me the desires of my heart. However, I want to change!

Gen 30:22 'Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and opened her womb'>

Here we see God doing the same thing for Rachel, even though she was jealous of her sister. God's mercy covered her sin. He didn't say "right, stuff you for your bad attitude'. Again, we see a picture of a God who WANTS to bless us and give us the desires of our hearts, showing mercy and grace when we fail to have the right attitude.

Genesis 29: Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough

Gen 29:31 ‘When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb’.

I love this scripture, as once again it shows an amazing scene; almighty God is watching the earth, and intervening in the smallest of issues. Basically, Leah isn’t being loved, and so he steps in and blesses her with a baby. What does that mean to us? For a start, it means that we can rest assured that God is watching over us and will take care of us. There is nothing too mundane for him to care about, and I think that’s just wonderful!

Gensis 27 & 28: What God has done for one he will do for all!

As we move into the second half of Genesis, our journey focuses now on Jacob. There wasn't a lot jumping off the page at me, so I went through a couple of chapters today.

Gen 28:15 "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go...I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you".

Here we see God saying some amazing stuff to Jacob, things I am sure we would all like to hear. I always find it interesting and a tad confusing about which verses we can claim and believe for ourselves, and which (if any) were just specific messages to a person and not ones we can claim. However, since God is no respector of persons (Acts 10:34) I do believe what he has done for one he will do for another, and I would say this is a brilliant verse to speak out when we need some encouragement.

Genesis 26: Family matters

Well today is Easter Sunday, and the sun is shining! I was tempted to go and look at the chapters to do with Jesus' death and ressurection, but I ended up sticking with Genesis to see what God had for me there.

Genesis 26 continues with yesterday's theme of generational sin. In this chapter we see Isaac commiting the same sin his father did: afraid he would be killed so the locals could take his wife, he told them "she is my sister" (v 6). For me it's no coincidence that Isaac did the exact same thing his father did, and it reminds me again of how we need to be a good influence on our family.

Genesis 25: You've gotta eat!

Broken up for Easter now, but still starting my day with God. I am blessed that I won't have to be pulling my eyelids open at 6:15am for a couple of weeks, but I am also aware that I still need to seek God every day. So today is Genesis 25, and a couple of interesting points came up.

Gen 25:`After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac'.

There are a couple of different ways of thinking about this verse. First off, our parents have an effect on us, and we can inherit God's blessings from them if they were close to God. Of course that can go the other way too, and I am testament to the fact that many of us inherit the good AND bad things of our parents. It's a bit of a double edged sword this teaching, and for many of us we will have inherited our share of rubbish from previous generations. However, it also reminds me how important it is for my own children that I seek God and live the life he has for me. I came across a lovely verse on proverbs the other day which basically said the same thing, something like 'if you love God he will look after your kids'.

If we are aware of the bad points we have inherited from our parents, then we can do battle with them, and lookout for their traps. For example, I have inherited my mother's worrying attitude,and so KNOW I need to build myself up with scripture and prayer etc.

Genesis 25:21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer.

I just love this: God answers prayer.It really hit me reading this how God involves himself in our own everyday desires, needs and requests, such as having a baby. The God who made the world is listening: what are you going to ask him for?

Genesis 25:32 "Look,I am about to die"

Here we see Esau so hungry that he gives away his birthright for a meal. God really spoke to me here about how we need to eat and eat well, because we can often fall into sin if we are hungry. It's an odd, but accurate observation I think.

Genesis 24: reap what you sow

Missed another day yesterday, but still did my Bible study. If I'm honest, I am losing a bit of the desire to write the blog, but I keep telling myself it's a good place to record things,and a valuable site if only for me!

OK, Genesis 24. Here we see a couple of really nice examples of generosity. First off, there's Rebekah, who not only drew water from the well but also offered to 'Draw water for your camels too' (Gen 24:19). This would have required a lot more work, but ultimately God used this as a sign that Rebekah was the woman for Jacob. I guess the message is treat everyone well, and in the meantime you could well be entertaining God's annointed. Either way, you'll reap a reward.

The same thing is seen later in the chapter. Rebekah's generosity continues in verse 25, where she tells the servant "we have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night". This above and beyond generosity is such a good example, and a continuation of the theme from a couple of days ago. God calls us to be generous.