Following God: Genesis 31:1-3
God doesn’t need perfect people; He needs people open to following. God’s plan spans generations. His hands move across nations and through time in ways we could never fathom. He doesn’t need us to generate some incredible plan. He wants us to come along side of Him and play a part in His plan.
After some time, Jacob looks around and hears the murmuring. Laban may have asked him to stay because he wanted proximity to Jacob’s blessing from God, but Laban’s sons see a different story. Laban’s sons see Jacob’s wealth as wealth that could have been theirs. They aren’t accusing Jacob of stealing from Laban. Their accusation is much more subtle. They believe had Jacob not been present they could have stepped into the vacuum left behind and claimed his prosperity for themselves. They believe Jacob uses family resources for his own gain when it could have been for their gain.
At its core, this is a spirituality issue. Laban’s sons only see the wealth and the man gaining the wealth. They don’t see the spiritual blessing. They completely miss the God behind the wealth. They are so focused on the wealth they believe could have been theirs they miss the point that it couldn’t have been theirs. Jacob may have been a great shepherd, but it was God who prospered him.
God had a plan. God wants to raise up a nation based on His principles. That nation will model His principles for the world. That nation will produce His redeemer for the whole world. For that to happen, Abraham’s family needed wealth at the beginning. They needed to thrive. Through Jacob, God’s eye is on the long-term goal while granting a short-term blessing. Laban’s sons don’t recognize any of this.
Because of this, God’s blessing drives a wedge between Laban and Jacob. Laban and his family grow jealous of Jacob. Jacob realizes it is time to go. God tells him to go back to Canaan and find his family.
Jacob’s position with God has changed. Jacob left Canaan vowing that if God allowed him to complete his mission he would take God as his personal God. Jacob lives up to that promise. God brought Jacob a wife. God allowed Jacob to prosper. Jacob returns to Canaan with wealth of his own and won’t need to depend on the wealth of his father or the might of Esau. God brought sons and daughters into Jacob’s life, so he returns to Canaan with his identity already forged. Jacob will follow God back to Canaan.
God doesn’t need us to understand His plan to play a part. Certainly, Jacob has no idea about Jesus. Jacob doesn’t know the Hebrew nation will use his sons as a significant part of its identity. God uses Jacob’s curiosity and his openness to following Him. That’s all God needs to work His plan. God doesn’t need perfect people; He needs people open to following.
