DECEMBER 12-13

“Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me” - Genesis 32:11

Worry has devastating effects – it corrodes faith. Like acid it robs us of joy, and steals our hope.

My father had a saying he used whenever someone said they were worried about something, and that was - “What's the point of wasting your energy and worrying about something that may not happen, but if it does, you won't have any reserves left to tackle it.”

Jesus said a similar thing in the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own” - Matthew 6:34. And Jacob was a worried man. No surprise, as he hadn't been much of a brother to Esau; he'd tricked, taken advantage of, and stolen from him, then had fled the country. The brothers hadn't spoken with each other for some 20 years, now God told Jacob to return to “your relatives” - Genesis 31:3. Jacob did as God asked. To say he was worried about what his reception would be is an understatement – he was scared! For all he knew Esau would kill him on sight.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation of your own making, and like Jacob, run away from it, wasting precious moments, days, weeks, months – even years – in worry, building up and blowing out of proportion, the consequences?

Human relationships are high on God's 'top ten' list – six of the Ten Commandments are about this. Maybe though in your case, you, like Jacob, feel your situation is beyond repair? Then Jacob and Esau's reconciliation provides us with hope and guidance.

'There is real freedom in admitting your fears. Jacob did just that, asking for God's protection from the wrath of his brother Esau and reminding God of his promises' - Dave Dravecky

First. Jacob prayed about his worries and fears....on his knees....all night (Genesis 32) until God replied.

Second. He obeyed God's directive because only God knows when the time's right to make amends, become reconciled – Jacob returned to his relatives because the Lord told him to.

Third. Jacob received his reward. After twenty wasted years of division, Esau ran to Jacob, arms wide open, and threw his arms around his brother (Genesis 33:4).

These are the secrets of being content – to let go, and let God. Let us learn to take one day at a time – not five years, or ten years, but one day.

“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” - Matthew 6:34.

Today's song is sung by Keith and Kristyn Getty - “In Christ Alone”.

       

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here