WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Where were you seven years ago? Can you recall the hopes, fears and pressures you experienced in that period? Survey the passing of time and thank God for his faithfulness, even during the most difficult times.

The cheat is cheated
Jacob meets someone as wily as himself! Laban drives a hard bargain and consents to Jacob’s marriage plans in return for 14 years’ labour (vs 18,27). Even though Jacob clearly asks for Rachel (v 18), Laban succeeds in giving him his other daughter, Leah (v 27).

Laban’s defence is one of local custom (v 26) but Jacob believes he has been deceived (v 25). The cheat becomes the cheated. There’s a happy symmetry here, a kind of natural justice, but that’s not the point of the story. God’s purposes are always greater and far-reaching.

God’s purposes
Where Jacob hopes for a wife, God envisages a people who will fulfil his purposes on earth. Where we are bound by time, he scans the generations for his glory. He sees past, present and future at the same time as he designs his plan.

We may not understand or like our lives at present, but we can give ourselves to his loving and personal care.

Respond: ‘Lord, there’s so much that I don’t understand and your ways often seem inscrutable. But I thank you for your loving care across all generations. Even though there have been times when I have felt lonely and adrift, I now give myself to you again, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-07-18