"Oh God let us be a generation that seeks, Who seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob

Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'” (Gen. 32:9-12)

Jacob was a deceiver – twice deceiving and manipulating his brother. The deceit was encouraged by his mother and deeply rooted in his family of origin. Yet, God chose him and called him over Esau because he had a heart that said yes to God and sought after Him.

He had not accomplished big things on his own, he was not strong or full of character. God took him and made his life into so much more. Rather than spending his life wondering and squandering it away, God gave his life meaning and purpose. He formed character in him and taught him that He was faithful, for Him and could be trusted.

First negotiating with God to give him a portion of what he owned if God would care for Jacob and watch over him, Eventually, as he grew in faith, Jacob put all that he loved and worked for on the altar to follow God. He trusted and obeyed God when He told Jacob to return to the land of promise. He headed toward the land knowing he would need to face Esau - his brother who had wanted him dead. He put all that he loved and owned at risk for obeying and trusting God. 

As the people of God, we come from the heritage of Jacob and have a lot to learn from him.  Here is a poem I wrote about Jacob - 

A father of many

Born in deceit

the roots buried deep

To manage his destiny

He chose the way of his family.

To obtain the rights of birth

He manipulated at first

Then for the blessing

He lied and pretended

Not for strength or brawl was Jacob known

Quiet and mild, he spent his time on his own

But somewhere in Jacob was a longing inside

To be blessed by God His heart did reside

It led him on a journey far away from home

Where God would bless him and make him His own

The yes in his heart drew him near

As the God of his fathers he learned to fear

To know this God face to face

this was his destiny and his fate

With a staff in his hand he had started out

A barren wanderer on a journey in the land of doubt

But as he learned to trust and obey

His life and ways began to change

A man once known by name for deceit

Became a man whose life God was pleased

A man once known for grabbing his brother's heel

Became a man of character who would not cheat or steal.

Rather than make his own way

He inherited the promises that God freely gave.

He became Israel, a father from whom nations flow

Through the once deceiver, God made Himself known

“No longer will I hide in shame, I will run into Your Name” sings in the background.

To the extent of our seeking after God, our yes and our willingness to trust His working in our lives, God does this for all of us. Oswald Chambers writes that God takes us through difficulties and puts us through floods and fires to shape us and he can trust us with the reality of who He is making us into.[1]

He writes, “Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don't lose heart in the process.” [2]

I don't want to just get the answers right

I don't want to just live for this life

I want so much more than the world can give

Would you teach me to really live?

Would you meet me where I am here?

There used to be so much I would fear

I no longer struggle the same with the worry or self-doubt

No longer suffer under the weight of it all

More yet, my life once so filled with despair

Joy and peace have become my fare

What more dear Father could I ask of You.

Your goodness has more than seen me through

My shoes have not worn and all my needs more than met

Yet there is more I'm longing for yet ..

You are my treasure the One that I long

That I would be nearer to this One whom I belong

That every day would be filled with Your touch

That my life would speak that I love you so much

Teach me to like Jacob to say yes in it all

Teach me like him to offer You my all


You will find Me in everything,
When You seek me with all Your heart

Seeking

takes on new meaning

     as we grow in faith

Learning

   then living

         then loving

all things teach Christ

beholding you in the moment

in the face of the one before us

In the world around us

In the silence of prayer

In the hope for the children in Africa

In the flickering flame

and in the burning

Finding you are with us

         in everything

Make yourself known

   today in the world

      through our hearts and our love

1.  Chambers, Oswald.  My Utmost For His Highest.   1924.

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