Title: We have no chance.
Contents
Early morning prayer Genesis 29:1-20 Arrival, meeting, and marriage preparation
Today's message is the beginning of the proof of God's promise to protect Jacob, the word we saw yesterday, and it is the part where the human aspect of Jacob is still incomplete. You can confirm God's zeal in fulfilling His work in spite of human weakness.
When Jacob left Bethel and headed east, he settled by a well. The shepherds waited for the flocks to gather, and when they were all gathered, they moved the large stone that had blocked the entrance to the well and stopped walking when they saw that they were watering the sheep. We can compare the scene of Jacob meeting his future wife Rachel at the well with the scene in Genesis 24 where the servant Abraham sent meets Rebekah, the future wife of Isaac. Although the purpose of their departure was different, Abraham's servant and Jacob both experienced God's gentle guiding hand, and they all met Abraham's brother Nahor's family, especially Laban, Nahor's grandson. The place where the two met, which seemed to be a coincidence, but which was by no means coincidental, was at the well. While Abraham's servant received water from Rebekah, who was carrying a water jar from here, to confirm "whether the Lord has provided a smooth path", Jacob directly watered his uncle Laban's flock to experience Jehovah's guidance. It's possible.
As interpreted in the Daily Bible, the shepherds Jacob met at the end of his long journey were shepherds from Haran, and they knew Laban, the only relative Jacob could rely on, and at that time. Laban's daughter Rachel was coming towards the well. We can confirm that it is God's guidance that chance turns into inevitability, but at the same time it is necessary to remember that this transformation is possible because Jacob experienced humiliation at Bethel. Through the experiences of pain and suffering in which we have to surrender the control of our lives to God, we confirm that various events and encounters, such as coincidences or bad luck, were not by chance or bad luck. Among the people you've met recently, are there any encounters or words that keep popping up in your head? Are there any recent events or setbacks that continue to weigh on you? From the point of view of the world, even the encounters or events that are considered “unlucky” can be confirmed from the point of view of God that nothing is to be discarded, even through today's seemingly ordinary encounter with Jacob.
However, Jacob's obsession and desire for possession will eventually provide an opportunity to reflect on himself through Laban, who is trying to deceive himself on a higher level than himself. All the benefits and conveniences of craftiness and trickery, if not immediately apparent, will eventually have its aftermath. On the other hand, no matter how hard and difficult it is right now, what has clearly paid the price will always be shown as good fruit. The story of Jacob we see today subtly reminds us of God's rules of operation.
I hope that on this day God has given me, whatever I do, wherever I go, I hope that I will have a great decision to put my life's efforts into the hands of God. I pray that from this early morning prayer time, there will be a one-day training in which even our obsessions and desires will completely submit to His guidance.