God with the Worry Warts

Do you do a Bible reading plan? I have gone back to the beginning with The Bible Recap again this year. Ending Genesis last week was bittersweet. I have studied Genesis multiple times with Women’s Bible Study, and each time, I have indulged in feelings of frustration with Jacob. It’s too easy: the man was a terrible dad. A bad brother. A horrendous husband. A frustrating, self-absorbed man.

Jacob saw angels and the theophany multiple times; he even wrestled with God. Yet he lived his life in fear. Jacob was a worry wart, who often made big decisions based on fear of people and potential situations. He feared his own brother. His father-in-law. His neighbors. Loss. Death.

We see this fear plague him through his entire life, all the way to the end, on the road to Egypt and his long-lost favorite son, Joseph. Jacob was afraid, even knowing God had told Abraham his descendants would eventually go to Egypt. Moving to Egypt at the end of his life was a Stunning Act of Bravery for Jacob. And God met him on the way there:

² And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

³ “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.” Genesis 46:2-4 NIV

God was with Jacob. He kept him, through the unknown, through selfishness that impacted his wives and children in horrible ways, through bad decisions and unwise parenting, through loss and grief. Through it all. Just as He would keep Jacob’s descendants, the Israelites, and women like Rahab and Abigail, and eventually Lydia, and on and on to you and me. God has been faithful.

Seeing God did not change Jacob in the ways I wish it had. But God was with Jacob, and somehow, even in spite of Jacob himself, God used Jacob to achieve His will, and that changed everything, for all of us.

It’s very comfortable for me to look back and judge Jacob, and I much prefer it. But this year, all these God visits stopped me in my tracks. I had to ask myself, would seeing the angel of the LORD have made a difference for me?

After years of judging Jacob’s actions, I realize Jacob missed out on a lot of joy, all because of fear. Fear doesn’t stop God, but it can impact the way we experience what God has for us. It can certainly impact our joy.

I am prone to worry, to leap to worst-case-scenario thinking. I am grateful for the testimony of a man who failed in ways that feel really important to me, and to see (again) that he had nothing to fear, and so do you and I. It is God’s faithfulness and wisdom and keeping that changes everything. Not ours. God works in all things, for them then, for us now, and for His people, always.

I need to remember that God has good reasons to tell His people not to be afraid. He has a plan. That He is faithful and mighty and loving. We have nothing to fear.

Questions for Reflection:

1. If you read it recently, how did the story of Jacob press on you in a new way this year?

2. How have you seen God work in your own life?

Updates:

I will be at Tales on Tap Book Fair at Lakewood Brewing Co. in Richardson on March 22! I’ll have books to sell and sign, and I would LOVE to see you there! Yay! This is a family friendly event, so come one, come all!

My first women’s retreat is coming up in a few weeks. Thank you so much for praying for my time with these women. The topic is discipleship, something near and dear to my heart! I am excited to be with them, and I am praying that God will be glorified.