Corona Devo 193

What can we do when fear or doubt crowds out our better judgement?  We have a good head on our shoulders, and we know where we are supposed to be headed, but something gets in the way: our head.  

Our thoughts, our questions, and assumed situations take over dictating the story of our lives, and we become so wrapped up in the detours in our minds, that we get off of God's track.  

Maybe we know who we are, and it isn't thoughts or anxieties making us question our path, but it is exhaustion, frustration or repetitiveness from our current roles.  Titles we know we are meant to be and do, like spouse, parent, adult-child, employee.  But we can find ourselves second-guessing these roles and our commitments to them.  

We need to re-group!  Even if we wonder how we will make-it-through somedays, God has blessed our path leading up to today, and He has big plans for our tomorrows.  He has called us to who we are right now, and we cannot let life derail us.

Jacob had a similar experience.  He had a nasty split with his brother Esau because he had tricked Esau out of receiving his first-born rights and blessings, and Esau had said that he would kill Jacob in revenge.  So Jacob left for about 20 years.

But then God told Jacob to go back.  "I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, the place where you anointed the pillar of stone and made your vow to me. Now get ready and leave this country and return to the land of your birth." Genesis 31:13.

God has placed us RIGHT where we are in our families, our marriages, our parenting, our jobs, our communities and in the U.S.A. for a reason.  He called us to be who we are, and He calls us to be who we are FOR HIM.  Living for Him and loving others for Him, and as He does. 

If we have been wandering or questioning or just tired of who we are and what we are called to: God tells us (just like Jacob!) to go back. 

And Jacob listened to God (smart guy!).  He gathered his people and flocks and started back, but when he got close, he got cold feet.  His messengers had gone ahead to announce his coming to Esau, and Jacob found out that Esau was already on his way to meet him, "with an army of 400 men!" (Genesis 32:6). 

Jacob freaked out.  He had heard God's message about going, but then he started to talk himself out of it.  But then he re-grouped, and prayed.  Through prayer, and in Christ, we can talk ourselves back into God's call for us.

Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac... ~Genesis 32:9.  The first thing Jacob did, (and we should too!) is remind Himself of who God is, and His longevity.  And then Jacob is able to recall that God also led his grandfather and father in their lives, just as God was leading Jacob.  God is for us!  Perhaps you are a 1st-generation Jesus-seeker in your family--then these men (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.) are your spiritual-kin.  God's leading in their lives is as real as God's leading in our lives.  

—O Lord, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’ ~Genesis 32:9.  Sometimes we just need to restate the obvious, because we let out minds distract us from God's calling on our lives.  God told Jacob to return.  God has us exactly where we are today: emotionally, physically and spiritually.  We have to move forward in following God in His plan for our lives.  Disobedience was not an option for Jacob, and I don't want it to me an option for me either.

10 I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps! ~Genesis 32:10.  Jacob does an excellent job of reminding himself (and us) that we are simply not worthy of all that God has given us.  We are so blessed.  All that Jacob had came from God and we are no different.  God had called Jacob to leave home 20 years ago, and Jacob left with nothing.  The Lord blessed his obedience and faith.  Jacob reminded himself of God's previous call on his life, and the truth and fruition of it.  Sometimes we have to "pump ourselves up" in our faith.  It can be hard to follow Jesus.  But counting our blessings and seeing what God has already done in our lives is excellent strength training.

11 O Lord, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children. 12 But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count.’”  ~Genesis 32:11-12.  Jacob comes very honestly and vulnerably to God.  He lays out his fears, and we can also do that with our Heavenly Father. 

And then Jacob wraps up the prayer with the reminder of the Truth that God has called him to do this.  God said so.  It is the same with us.  Nothing in our lives is a coincidence.  God is doing something with us in every role that we fulfill each day.

I pray that we can re-group in any area or role that we have been struggling in lately.  Jacob's prayer is our prayer too. 

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com