1-18-11

I haven't posted in a while but I have been reading and doing a lot of seeking. I finished Joshua and am now finishing up reading about the life of Jacob in Genesis. So, I guess today I'll talk about Jacob.

Jacob was a schemer. He schemed his way into getting Esau's birthright, his blessing. He schemed for Rachel. he schemed with Rachel's father. He even tried scheming with God. Through all of this we see that Jacob struggled his way to faith. God had promised Rachel before Jacob was born that the older would serve the younger. The birthright and blessing were already Jacob's. Essentially he schemed for what God was already going to give him. If Jacob had just trusted God he would have had less conflict in his life. He wouldn't have had turmoil with his family, with his in-laws. It shows me that we must always trust God and not get ahead of His plans. Now, even when we mess up and forge ahead in our own plans God still extends mercy and blessing. But what we can save ourselves from is a lot of unnecessary heartache. I don't want God's permissive will. I want His perfect will!
God is showing me more and more how important it is to wait on Him. To trust Him. In my human nature I want to try to fix things. I want to forge ahead with "my" plans or what I think is right. But God is teaching me "Be still and Know". BE STILL. WAIT. SIT AT MY FEET.
He has a perfect plan for my life but it must be His timing and not mine.
Jacob wrestled with God and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. I think sometimes I wrestle more with myself. I definitely do not want to wrestle with God. Submit! Now that's a better word.

May God give me the strength to submit every day.