Escaping With Jacob: 7 Days Of IdentitySample

Isaac, Abraham’s son and Jacob’s father, was born into a situation of promise. For Jacob, the situation is much different because he is born into a setting of turmoil.

Isaac was well into his manhood by now; caring for and growing the inheritance his father Abraham had left him. But like his father before him, Isaac and his wife Rebekah had yet to give birth to an heir. 

Isaac prays for a son and eventually (some 20 years later) Rebekah becomes pregnant. But this is not the end of their struggles. The two children within her battle and she can feel that something is not right. So like her husband, she prays.

God answers that the two children within her will come to represent two rival nations, wherein the older will serve the younger. Shortly after Rebekah gives birth, another struggle ensues. As the twins emerge the younger twin grasps onto the older one’s heel, and brings upon himself the name Jacob (aka, the deceiver or more literally heel-grabber).

The story of Jacob is a powerful story of redemption, struggle, and forgiveness. But if you were to read only the first chapter, you would have no idea about the exceptional life this child was bound to live. If you only looked at his beginning, or at his name, or at the broken relationships he has with his family, you would miss so much.

Jacob’s story, like our own, is a tale of becoming. His early mistakes and misdirections are the source of so much pain for so many people. But they are not the end of his story; and they are not the end of yours either.

God takes Jacob and makes every area of his life new. His broken beginning has a beautiful end. His undesirable name is changed into an inspiring one. And his relationships become a source of joy.

There was never a day God did not have a beautiful plan in mind for Jacob. Even when his mother could not get pregnant, God knew. Even when he fought his brother in his womb, God loved. And even when he was named a deceiver at birth, God smiled.

No matter how painful the beginning of your story might be, God is in the process of redeeming it! 

Takeaway: What is happening right now will fit into God’s plan for my life.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that the beginning of my story is just that, only the beginning.