January 13: Of Jacob and Submission

Genesis 28:1-29:35

Matthew 9:18-38

Psalm 11:1-7

Proverbs 3:11-12

These days when we don't get what we thought we wanted, what we thought we were promised, we take action.  We walk away, we ship the goods back to Amazon, we sue, we walk away.  Because these days, it's all about us.  What we want.  And if we don't get it, we walk.  

It sure was different back then.  We know Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, and Rachel was willing to marry Jacob.  We have NO idea where Leah stood on the matter.  But in exchange for what he said he would do - 7 years of labor - Jacob got Leah.  And rather than take his daughter back, Laban demands Jacob give him another 7 years of labor - effectively double what he said he would give - to marry the woman he fell in love with.  

Can you imagine what would have happened if that had been today?  I am not certain, but I think there's a good chance the words "I'm outta here" would have been uttered.  And we wouldn't have had the 12 tribes of Israel.  We wouldn't have had the line that brought us to David, and then to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Our Lord.  

I am not going to speak for anyone else, but I will say this: two characteristics Jacob has that I still lack are acceptance and submission.  Jacob had the birthright and the blessing, but he was told by his mother, and then his father, to leave for Harran.  Jacob could've married whomever he wanted back home, but he obeyed his parents and sought a wife from among his kinsfolk.  And Jacob could have been righteously furious with Laban, but he submitted himself to the decision of the father of the woman he wanted to marry.  And because he did, God continued the fulfillment of His promise to Jacob's grandfather, Abraham, and began to build the nation of Israel through Jacob.  

Submission is tough.  It gets easier with trust.  But trust is difficult as well - it gets easier when you know whom it is you trust.  But knowing is difficult too - unless one makes the effort, by spending time with them, and communicating with them.  In his book, The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren keeps reemphasizing the certainty that God created us in order to love us, and in order for us to love Him back.  And in order to love Him, God wants us to get to know Him.  So God certainly isn't going to be the impediment to our submission.  

So what can we do?  Again in the Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Warren talks about two things: constant conversation, and constant meditation.  He tells us we CAN pray constantly to God, and we CAN constantly meditate on His word.  Doing both, we will get to know Him, then trust Him...then Jacob's brand of submission will become easier.

Father, please give us the grace to take You up on Your standing invitation to get to know You, through prayer and scripture, so that we might come to trust the One, the Only One, who deserves our complete submission.