Author: Christine Wyrtzen

As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month. Genesis 29:13-14

Jacob announced who he was to his uncle as Laban threw his arms around him and feigned a depth of affection that wouldn’t materialize when tested. Did Jacob let his guard down when he was embraced? Probably so. That’s what we tend to do when we are among those we assume are safe. It will turn out that Laban will be generous with Jacob but only because it will be self-serving.

In this fallen world, love is just flawed. No one loves perfectly. Family relationships are messy. Sinful human nature acts out constantly. What makes the road so treacherous is that love can exist one minute and disappear the next when it requires something in the relationship that is believed to be too steep. A generous person becomes stingy in a moment over the right issue. You might be blind-sighted by the limits of their fidelity and at what point they will serve themselves instead of you.

Jacob will find out the hard way about the heart of Laban and he will suffer under Laban’s selfish scheming. But then again, hadn’t Jacob done the same thing when he schemed to extort the blessing from his father? What he sowed, he is unfortunately reaping.

How should I function with family? I don’t want to live suspiciously but I also don’t want to be naïve and trust indiscriminately. Only God can impart that kind of wisdom, a street-smart kind of savvy. I won’t always get it right. There will be times I am taken in by another’s ability to deceive me. “I love you. We’re family!” can easily melt misgivings that might have been warranted.

God is near as I navigate relationships with those who share my bloodline. When wounded, I won’t get bogged down in the mire of resentment and revenge. I’ll grieve my losses, forgive, embrace the lesson I’ve learned about the hearts of those I’m still getting to know, and move on to love wisely with my eyes wide open.

Give me the wisdom to know how to live unoffended but within the parameters of safety. Amen

Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. Genesis 29:10-11

I used to live expecting God to disappoint me. I was sure that what I deserved dictated a provision of something meager. When God poured out favor and blessing instead, I cried for joy and was greatly surprised. Today, however, while there may be times I’m disappointed in God’s timing of a provision, I know it’s not because I’ve fallen into disfavor.

When Jacob met Rachel for the first time, he wept out loud. Was he surprised by God’s gift? Was he overcome by her beauty? We don’t know. I wish this account, and many other stories in scripture would offer a lot more detail so that we wouldn’t have to speculate.

Jacob came to Laban’s country because he was forced to leave home. His departure was necessary because of the plot he carried out against his brother.  I contend that Jacob’s sin had to have undermined his confidence in God. Yes, God appeared to him on his journey and spoke a blessing over him but you and I both know that blessing doesn’t always mean the removal of consequences from our past sins. Jacob did eventually face some things that were related to his acts of deceit but in this part of the story, God blessed him beyond his dreams.

As I think about my spiritual journey, I still feel the impact of some of the choices I’ve made throughout my lifetime. However, God’s grace is there to help me endure it. I’ve also lived long enough to see Him redeem my mistakes. I know what it is to weep for joy.

I used to only know one kind of tears. I’m glad You introduced me to tearful joyfulness. Amen

Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. Genesis 29:1

Jacob met the woman he will marry. And it happened at a well. So many significant spiritual moments happened at wells in the Bible. Treaties were made there. Revelations of God were experienced there. And it was at a well that Jesus disclosed His identity as the Messiah to a Samaritan woman.  These very people who came to a well never knew they were entering a divine moment. It seemed so normal to each of them. Scripture often says, “He happened upon a well…” yet God had woven circumstances together to make that moment pivotal to that person’s future.

There are no coincidences in the life of God’s child. The steps of a righteous man and woman are ordered by the Lord. God describes His sovereignty in terms of steps, not miles. Every step is under His providence. I’m often asked a question that begins with, “Do you think it’s significant that…..?” My answer is usually yes. Events are connected if you’re God’s child and you’re prayerful. A meeting with a stranger is loaded with implications because it is under God’s umbrella of divine providence. If I chalk something up to coincidence and fail to explore the meaning behind a seemingly common event, I will miss out.

I have missed many flights over the years but later understood that I got to meet someone I wouldn’t have otherwise met. I once crossed paths with four people from Houston in the course of one week and then asked God if I was to be praying for a ministry opportunity in Houston. In a year, it materialized.  Some might say this was reading too much into everything, but I’ve lived long enough to have seen that disproven. God also shed light on it when He said that the steps of a righteous man and woman are ordered by Him.  Without the prayerful exploration of something that turns our heads in wonderment, we will miss kingdom tie-ins.

Jesus said to pray without ceasing. He modeled that and did nothing without God’s nudging. That means that Jesus talked about every single day’s event with His Father. He knew that nothing was a coincidence.

In just a few minutes, I will be going to pray with an elderly, frail man in our neighborhood.  As I was out driving on an errand yesterday, his face flashed across my mind and then I heard God’s whisper.  “Go pray with David.”  I’m acting on it though it would have been easy to dismiss it as my imagination. I will probably know within the hour why God prompted this idea, and request.

The day is in front of me. With You orchestrating my life, no day is without significance to my future and the future of others. Amen

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. Genesis 28:20-21

Jacob just had a dream where he saw the heavens open and angels were going up and coming down. God spoke to him and introduced Himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac, but He never added, “And I am the God of Jacob, your God, too.” The relationship hadn’t become personal yet.  Maybe Jacob lived wondering if God would be with him as He was with his father.  After wrestling with the angel of the Lord, Jacob needed to know where he stood with God and so he made this bargain. ‘If you will be with me, preserve me, provide for me, and bring me home again to the family I just injured beyond repair, then I’ll know that you’re my God.’

Jacob knew he couldn’t go forward on second-hand faith, and I cannot exist on it either. Coasting on a family member’s encounter with God doesn’t automatically alter the course of my life.  I once believed it would.  I was around some iconic men of God. I heard their stories of spiritual conquest. I read biographies of spiritual giants and was momentarily stirred through their adventures. Though I learned a lot (just like Jacob who grew up in the house of a patriarch), I was the quiet one in the company of those who gave stunning testimonies.  God was not present in my mostly faithless life because I’d never put Him to the test for myself.

God would intersect my story in a powerful way. I would encounter a series of crises that would cast me into powerless positions. I would choose to trust Him for myself and discover that He is not only a kind Father but a promise-giving God who delights to reveal Himself in a personal way, relating in ways that are specific to me.  As our relationship has grown and deepened, the customized language He speaks still makes my heart beat faster.

I have a long testimony now. I’m so glad my heart is still spilling over with wonder. Amen

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:16-17

Places can hold bad memories whether it’s a place I used to live, a school I used to attend, or even a playground I was bullied on. The thought of it can bring distaste to my mouth. Maybe a ‘place’ pops into your head as you read this.  What if I told you that God wants to enter the place of bad memories?   Perhaps you believe that God only enters holy places.   Consider Jacob. Fleeing the place of his sin and on a journey to find a wife, he picks a place on the side the road to sleep. All that exists is wilderness and a rock for a pillow but God shows up to mark the spot that will forever be holy to Jacob.

What limits my experience of God usually has nothing to do with God but everything to do with me. Living in the land of disappointment, I stop hoping, stop asking, and stop looking up. I assume that God would never choose to dwell in such a place. Too much bad has gone down.

If I knew the power of God and knew how badly He wants me to seek Him in every place I live, play, and work…. then I would be rushing in wide-eyed to see what will happen when He appears. God goes where He is wanted.

Maybe as you read this, you’re sitting in your painful place. Already today, tears have fallen there, angry words were spoken there, hopeless rhetoric erupted there. This is the beginning of hope, not the end. Seek God. He longs to hear:

“Come, Lord Jesus! Make this your gate of heaven.”

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Genesis 28:15-16

Jacob had a dream, and in it, the Lord spoke to him to confirm that the covenant promise He had made with his father and grandfather was also his. How merciful God was considering what Jacob had done to trick his father into giving him the blessing of the firstborn.

Jacob awoke and his response is something I have personally discovered about some past and painful events. “Now I see that God was there but I didn’t know it!  I thought I was alone.  Abandoned.  But I was wrong.”

It’s so humbling when I realize that God was there all along. Hindsight and additional information, along with God-given intuition, confirm it. Accusations I made against Him come back to haunt me and I come to understand that I was faithless and unfair. I apologize to my Father because I finally see how His Spirit preserved me in the flames to keep my faith alive.

If you are in a crushing place and you fear that God is not around, it’s not true. Proclaim Jacob’s words out loud. “Surely the Lord is in this place though I do not know it.” If these trials seem to you to be wasted, even senseless, that’s also untrue.

What is true is that you are in the middle of the plotline, and your vision is obscured. Objectivity is hard to find and subjectivity, along with its turmoil, begs to write reality.  My friend, redemption has just not happened yet. We must not allow pain to define us and live as though it’s the end of the story.  Tragedy will never be the end of our narrative.

I am often blind to Your presence but I do not throw my faith away. I choose to trust You even when I can’t see You. Amen

And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!  Genesis 28:12

Jacob is on his way to find a wife in Paddam Haran.  On the way, he stops to get some sleep and has a dream.  Earth is connected to heaven by a ladder.  On it, angels are going back and forth between the two worlds. The story doesn’t say that angels came down – and then went up.  It reveals the angels first ascended – before they descended. 

It’s a good reminder that angels live with us, seeing to our needs, doing God’s work, and following God’s orders.  Their daily activities transcend two realms, the physical on earth and the spiritual in heaven.  So much happens in the supernatural!  God’s purposes are being carried out today by His army of angels.  He is Commander in Chief of them all.  While I don’t worship them, I’m in awe of the God they serve and the reason they were sent here.  Their activities speak of the vastness of God’s prevailing love for His children.  He ordained angels to serve us.

They are protecting us, singing to us, bringing us God’s specific word for us, soothing the ragged edges of our souls, and providing cover when the enemy comes close.  Right now, at the right hand of the Father, additional orders are being given to care for us, and that care continues until the day we arrive home to God’s arms.  We are not orphans – left to fend for ourselves.  The Holy Spirit lives and works inside of us and angels live and work around us.  

The kingdom realm is meant to be more real to me than the tangible world I can see, taste, and feel.  God connects me to it as He communes with me in my Spirit.  In January of 2007, I prayed, “Lord, open the heavens and show me your glory!”  It was my prayer every day that year and I will tell you that He did that so creatively.  It was a year of heightened understanding of the scriptures, increased dreams, and beholding the glory of God in places I was previously unaware. 

Most likely, at this very moment, angels are ascending to the throne on our behalf and will come back later today with God’s answer.

I am often consumed by earth and the futility of what happens here.  I step out of this world into the kingdom.  I am your well-cared-for child in a vast universe, attended to by angels.  Just like You, Jesus.  Amen

May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!”  Genesis 28:4

Isaac’s blessing to Jacob is beautiful and trustworthy.  However, while the spiritual inheritance passed on from Abraham is a sure thing for Jacob, it’s not just handed to him on a silver platter.  A heavenly promise requires proactive participants.  Isaac reveals to his son that he will have to take possession of the land of promise by force.

How many years have I waited for God to deliver something only to discover that its delivery involved a collaborative effort! All spiritual inheritances must be fought for.  Satan is intent on thwarting every purpose of God in my life.  He doesn’t want me to have it.  I can be sure that realizing my destiny will involve a battle.

Along the way, there are skirmishes when I can rest and know that God is fighting for me but in the larger context, my spiritual life is carved out with prayer, strategy, and endurance.  Figuring out when to wait and when to advance is something only revealed in prayer.  If I don’t know how to hear God’s voice, I won’t know which posture to take.

It is a carnal thing to advance and take things by force whenever I feel that I am stuck.  Sometimes people are against me.  With God on my side, do I really believe I can just go in to settle the score with some harsh words? And when circumstances are against me, should I really manipulate circumstances to work in my favor?

 Both would be mistakes. God is the shaper of circumstances and the renovator of people.  My part is to intercede and stand in the promises of scripture.  At some point, God will say ‘move!’  When I do, I will notice that all the red lights have turned green.  Worship will be the result. And worship, while waiting, is usually the proactive stance that brings about an open door. 

Waiting doesn’t mean passivity!  I see that now, Lord.  I direct all my pent-up energy to active worship.  Amen

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.”  Genesis 28:1-2

Jacob is ‘set apart’ by his father and instructed not to marry anyone outside of his faith.  He is still young and cannot know how easily wrong companions will corrupt his faith in God.  Isaac doesn’t just ask Jacob to comply, he commands it.  A command will protect him when he’s ignorant of the consequences.

The company I keep has long-term effects on me, and eventually, everyone close to me.  When I am impacted by someone else’s influence, for the good and for the bad, it leaks out into all my relationships.   Children, spouses, friends, and people I serve in business and ministry, will all feel the repercussions of my alliances.

God made us to interact with one another.  This doesn’t happen with inanimate objects.  If I wrapped a knife and fork together in a napkin, put them in a drawer for 10 years, then unwrapped them, they would be as I last handled them.  But put two people together in the same space for a week and they will have been impacted by the other person. 

I consider how easily relationships form.  An act of kindness, a gift given, or attention bestowed; can capture another’s heart.  Their guard will come down.  Oh, how easily Jacob could have fallen for a Canaanite woman.  It might have taken only one soft encounter.  Isaac knew that and sent him away from all temptation.

Life is a series of course corrections.  I draw close to some and pull away from others.  May those I invite to live close be those who encourage me to love Jesus more.  May I be willing to take a careful step back from alliances that were made in haste and made foolishly.  The long-term effect on me and my descendants depends on both intentional choices.

I consider all your commands in a new light today.  Amen

Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.  Genesis 27:38

Rebekah played the part of God and she and her sons, and their descendants, suffered.  She and Isaac had played favorites between their two sons and encouraged unhealthy competition.  Usually, these urges to draw closer to one child than the other emerge from a defect in a marriage.  When emotional and spiritual needs go unmet between a husband and a wife, one or both often turn to a child to find camaraderie and comfort.

Rebekah devised a scheme where Jacob would dress up like his brother, go into the presence of Isaac, and steal the blessing reserved for the firstborn.  Maybe Rebekah believed that Isaac’s outrage would be short-lived, that Esau would go hunting for a while and his father would get over it.  And Jacob?  Well, she expected that he would prosper because he possessed the blessing. 

She was wrong on all counts!  Esau was, from that day on, bent on revenge.  Rebekah had to send Jacob away for his own safety and though she believed it would only be for a short time, she never saw him again before her own death.  As for Jacob, the blessed one, he suffered the effects of others’ deceptive schemes against him for much of his life.

Sin has deeper consequences than I ever envision.  When I am poised in a pivotal moment of decision, deciding whether sin is worth it or not, I often make calculations based on my limited knowledge of people and of God.  But my own spiritual blindness fails to see the gravity of a choice made against the glory of God.  What I believe to be some insignificant act really has the power to eat away at the spiritual health of my family for generations to come.  Whatever precipice I stand upon today, the one where action has not yet been taken, I have two choices.  1.) I can venture my best guess about the future, then move ahead to force things to work the way I believe they should.  Or, 2.) I can repent of my faithlessness and leave all possible interventions to a wise Father.

I’ve already seen it!  Sinful consequences cannot be measured.  Many have been worse than I predicted.  You are a Father who mercifully redeems all my messes.  Amen