Today's Reading:
- Genesis 31-37
- Psalm 17-20
- Isaiah 17-20
- Matthew 9-10
- Romans 11-13
If I could single only one thing out of today's reading plan as a constant thread, it would be the futility of making plans to help fulfill the will of God.
First off, we don't always have all the facts. Secondly, God doesn't need our help. Thirdly, we will never have God completely figured out. So it's best to just rely on Him day by day, moment by moment, and let Him work out all the details.
Take Jacob, for instance (and this is reaching back into yesterday's reading just a bit). In the womb, he wrestled with his twin brother, and God used the wrestling to speak a Word to Rebekah about how he had already chosen the younger over the older. When they were delivered, Jacob came out grasping his brother's heal--thus his name, which means "heel-grabber" or "supplanter". In other words, con-man.
As a grown man, he thought he needed to buy his brother's birthright. And later he cheated his brother out of the blessing of the firstborn and was forced to flee his homeland, arriving at the home of his relatives a penniless refugee. There, he was swindled royally by his own uncle, tricked into marriage with two sisters who fought over him and foisted their own maids onto him in an attempt to gain dominance through childbearing. He uses a selective breeding program to increase his own flocks and herds, but every time he thinks he's got his wages settled, his uncle/father-in-law changes the terms of the agreement. Finally, he has to sneak away to get away, and is very nearly attacked and destroyed by his enraged uncle/father-in-law. But even after God brings peace between the two, Jacob sends messengers to determine the intent of the brother he cheated. After hearing that Esau is on his way to meet them, Jacob starts figuring and plotting how to either win his brother's heart or escape his vengeance. In reality, Jacob needed to do none of that.
God had a beautiful will for Jacob's life, but we will never know what it was because Jacob got in the way. To that end, he had a houseful of bickering wives and rebellious children, a brother who didn't trust him, neighbors who hated him, and a lifespan that was shortened by heartache and hardship. What would have happened had Jacob just trusted God for the blessing and the future, instead of trying to work it all out for himself?
Just some thoughts.
Let us trust in the Lord for our every moment. I'm sure He's got everything well in hand.
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