If God had not been on my side...

—How God has spoken to me through
Genesis 31

  • Jeanine – Nov 20, 2022

 
 
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Genesis 31 ESV

  1. And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead.
  2. And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword?
  3. Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre?

Genesis 31 cont’d

  1. And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.
  2. It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’

Genesis 31 cont’d

  1. Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?
  2. For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two.
  3. These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks.

Genesis 31 cont’d

  1. What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
  2. There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.
  3. These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

Genesis 31
—Jacob’s conclusion:

  1. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”

You may be experiencing

  • People taking advantage of you
  • Not being fairly rewarded
  • Feeling trapped and stuck in your situation
  • You have been in this situation for a long time

Takeaways

  1. Remain loyal to God, even when your situation is unjust
  2. God is not blind
  3. Persevere in serving others, even when they don’t deserve it