THE LORD SPOKE (January 11)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Genesis 27-28

She should have known better. After her own miraculous experience with how the Lord works all things together for good to those who love Him, Rebekah should have been ready to leave the situation in God’s hands. He’d done so marvelously in her own story (Gen. 24). Remember how Abraham’s servant had gone looking for a wife for Isaac? It had all come together so perfectly without any human meddling.

But now (Gen. 27) through craftiness and intervention it all unraveled. In a moment she drove both of her sons away and was left with a befuddled husband. Whatever made her think her silly little plan would work?

In a sense it did work out. Not the way she probably had in mind (what on earth was she thinking?), but certainly the way God designed. Jacob, AKA “the grabber” (his name means “he grasps the heel”), was safely tucked away for the next several years in a place and a profession where God could have his full attention. It took years for him to learn his lessons. Esau ended up on the backside of a desert where he could waste his life and live out his worthless days in the same wanton ways that had characterized him from the start. His biggest accomplishment was supporting the cable company that carried all the hunting channels.

Isaac and Rebekah dropped off the radar at this point. Isaac gets a brief death notice (Gen. 35:29) and we’re told that they were both buried in the Cave of Machpelah (Gen. 49:31) but they finished their days in biblical obscurity and abandoned by both sons. They never went to their grandkids’ games, never got to watch them in the Christmas programs, never had their works of art tacked on the fridge. It must have been a very quiet and lonely existence baking in that dusty tent near Beersheba.

Meanwhile, God is still on His throne. His Promise is still alive. The next chapter is soon to unfold and the stage set for what will become the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s descendants will be so significant in God’s eternal plan that their names will be inscribed on the gates of the New Jerusalem forever (Rev. 21:12). One of those sons will carry on the pedigree of the Messiah and the second Person of the Trinity will be incarnated in that lineage. God’s purpose and plan will never be frustrated or thwarted by man’s puny machinations.

Rebekah knows that today. She’s had several milennia now to repent and to praise God for the way that he accomplishes His plan. Or, as Jacob heard God repeat the Promise to him on that occasion:

I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. (Gen. 28:13-15)

New Testament: Matthew 11

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Mat. 11:28-30)

If it’s so easy, why am I finding it so hard? Jesus has promised that we’ll find His yoke to be easy and His burden to be light. And so it is. But why then do we at times find ourselves struggling so much?

1. Maybe you said you’d take it on but you haven’t really done so. You’re still working in your own strength. Still trying to pull the whole load alone. Still not settled straight in the harness and trying to head off in your own direction. You haven’t learned yet to trust fully.
2. Maybe you haven’t rested yet. You’re still weary from all the effort you put into it yourself. You need a time out. You need some downtime with Him. You need Him to lead you by still waters and restore your soul. You haven’t learned yet to drink deeply.
3. Maybe you haven’t learned yet to go straight and immediately to Him. Your first thought needs to be of Him. What has He already said in Scripture that applies to this situation? What indicators is He now giving me? You haven’t learned yet to lean heavily.
4. Maybe you’re still sour with sin. You haven’t let the Word wash away the stickiness and stains. “Gentle and humble in heart” doesn’t describe you because you still haven’t gotten close enough to Him. You still need to sweeten considerably.
5. Maybe you haven’t thought enough about what He’s done for you. You can’t see the forest for the trees. The messiness of life has distracted your attention from His amazing grace. You really need to enjoy immensely what He’s done for you. Look back at where you were and then look again at His beauty.

We mutter and sputter,
We fume and we spurt;
We mumble and grumble,
Our feelings get hurt.

We can’t understand things,
Our vision grows dim,
When all that we need is
A moment with Him.