Jacob - Stuck to God

Stuck

"We're going to Bethel.  I'm going to build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and has stuck with me everywhere I've gone since".  Genesis 35:3 - The Message

Ever had gum stuck on your shoe on a warm day?  You can see it, feel it sticking to the pavement, hear it clicking as you step...  

I was talking with my wife about the verse above - how Jacob saw the blessing of God in his kids and his flocks, heard it every time he called Leah's kids' names and heard his flocks, and felt it wrestling God and limping afterwards.  My wife exclaimed, "That's just like gum stuck on a shoe!  I can see it, hear it, and feel it!"  I haven't been able to get that picture out of my head since.  God's blessing being hard to ignore.

Stubborn Persistence to...

Isn't it additionally interesting that Jacob sees God 'sticking with him', and Jacob's name means 'heal'?  He got that name because he was holding onto (stuck to) his twin brother's heal when he was born.  Then he wrestled with God and wouldn't let God go - stuck to him as well, until God changed his name and blessed him.  

Have you tried to get gum off of your shoe once its there?  Its not so easy.  Jacob was stubbornly persistent in pursuing a blessing.  What he didn't realize at first is that God would also be stubbornly persistent with him, pursuing him.  Reminds me of Psalms 23:6, "Surely Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life..."  

..A Smile, and a Blessing.

People may disagree with me here, but please give me a little wiggle room.  

As I was reading over Jacob's 'stuck' story, I noticed something else.  Jacob and Esau had a pretty tumultuous relationship as brothers, and later as nations, with the exception of the day that Jacob returns to Canaan.  Upon his return, he says to Esau, 

'...When I saw your face, it was as the face of God smiling on me...' 
Genesis 33:10b  The Message.

How is Jacob making this comparison?  How does he know what God's face looks like?  It turns out he actually saw God face to face (his words, not mine) just the evening before.  I can just picture Jacob hanging onto God with all he's got, and God smiling at him saying 'Let me go!'  Jacob replying 'Not until you bless me!' and God laughing at him - not in a mean way - and blessing him.  Genesis 32:29.

I love it.

May 12, 2020 Feeling Sidelined? Consider Leah

Journal Entry - May 12, 2020

Read about Jacob yesterday and thought about it when I woke up last night.  Actually I started thinking more about Leah. I couldn’t help but notice the contrast in how she named her children compared to how Rachel named hers.  She could have easily named her first son 'Vindicated' like Rachel named her first son.  But she didn’t. Instead the names of her boys are more like ‘God sees’, ‘God hears’, ‘God touches’, ‘Praise God’, ‘Lucky’, and ‘Happy’ while Rachel’s boys are ‘Vindicated’, ‘Fight’. Etc.  Leah must have felt unloved/unfavored by Jacob all her life, yet she seemed to see God's involvement, care, and understanding in her life if the names of her boys are any indication. 

(updated June 1, 2023)

Where did Leah learn about God?  Perhaps from Jacob's story of running for his life from Esau and meeting God at Bethel?  Genesis 29:31,32.  "When God saw that Leah was unloved..."  God sees!  He recognizes when we are overlooked, unloved.  And there is a blessing in that!  "...He enabled her to conceive..."  Leah then acknowledged God in that blessing, in the names of her kids.  How could Jacob ignore that?  Every time he called one Leah's boys he had a reminder that God was with them.  She may have been unloved, but she was still an influence in Jacob's life!  An influence he couldn't ignore and I believe he acknowledged in Genesis 35:3 

When Jacob's clan was meeting Esau, Jacob put Leah and her boys ahead (as a protective buffer?) of him and Rachel   Meanwhile Rachel had idols she stole from her father with her on the camel.  I thought this was a rather interesting contrast in who Jacob's two wives seemed to trust.  Leah seemed to depend on God, Rachel felt more secure with her father's idols.  

Jacob also gave Joseph, Rachel's son, second last in the traditional line of inheritance, the first born son's inheritance.  This bypassed all Leah's sons who were older than him.  Leah was, fortunately I think, dead by this time.  Even at the end of his life, Jacob still appeared to favour Rachel.  I'd like to think God had a little different perspective on it all.  Consider this: The line of Kings of Israel, including King David and ultimately Jesus came through Judah (Leah's son), not Joseph (Rachel's son). 

(updated July 1, 2023)  

I just realized today that in Genesis 49, Jacob (in Egypt) asked to be buried with his fathers and Leah - not with Rachel.  Rachel did not get buried with the rest of the family and Jacob specifically calls that out here, at his death.

In this meditation of mine, I felt God encourage me...  Have I felt like I've been in a rough/challenging situation for a long time?  Like Leah?  Like Job? Like David (with the promise of a throne but running from Saul for years)?  Like Paul (with the thorn in his flesh)?  God is using that situation to sharpen me, hone me, refine my character for Him.  He sees.  He hears.  He cares.

  

I thought I'd look and see if I could find some other journal entries of mine where I felt 'sidelined' or 'passed by'.  Here they are:

January 25, 2018

I slept poorly again last night. Thinking about what i should do in my position at work - what I’m not doing that I should. I constantly this unspoken pressure from others with an agenda to do something else (actually, more than once it’s been a spoken pressure with a specific person). I had some ideas how to resolve this, but after that ‘sleep’ last night, I’ve got nothing. Maybe that’s the way God wants me - completely empty and void of anything good I could offer in and of myself. It would only be grumpy me at this point.

Ugh. Worship practice tonite with church. I came home exhausted and frustrated with God because I just feel totally sidelined and a bit whipped - like I get all the wrong attention. ‘Do it this way’ from three different people at practice. I’m tentative on drums because these builds are too long in my opinion and I don’t know when they are going to stop. The young people on the team are ‘it’. Us older people are good for serving, and that's about it... it’s rather frustrating. To sit back and let others lead and they can’t even follow the click without me. I was kind of hopeless when I got home. Just wondering what I’m doing. It’s more stressful than fun. It just seems like I’m hoeing a really hard row right now. Learning humility, again. People at work aren’t convinced and happy with what I’m doing. With music its the same. I was pretty much at the end of my rope and God lead me to Job chapter 7. I could TOTALLY relate to that. Particularly verses 17 and 18. I’m being refined and nope it’s not comfortable and I have idea if this is going to lead anywhere good. But it’s comforting to know that Job felt the same and that God is testing me. Job 23:10.

May 2, 2017

This cold I've been fighting with for the past week is getting to me. Last night was rough. It seems when I get tired it takes advantage. I was tired and frustrated at work yesterday afternoon. I want to provide value, but my boss doesn't want me to experiment much with the infrastructure it seems. All the stories in the sprint are taken up. I felt like dead weight and sidelined...  again. A week after I turned down that great TCPL contract. How frustrating. 

Job 23:8-10 “I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. But he knows where I am going”  

Can I worship God when I don't feel great and things look frustrating?  Worship is not about getting a feeling.