Day 11 or January 11. Disappointments don't have to break you. Our thought today is rooted
in Genesis chapter 29, verses 27 and 28.
Finish this daughter's bridal week, then we will give you the younger one also, in
return for another seven years of work. And Jacob did so.
That's the big picture surrounding these verses. Jacob meets his match in trickery, when he
encounters Laban, who will become his father-in-law, twice over. Jacob thinks everything is going
very well, when he asks for Rachel to be his wife, and her father agrees. He must think
back to his negotiations with God, when he raised conditions in return for following
God. This time the sandal is on the other foot, so to speak, as Laban tells him the
price for Rachel is seven years of non-paid labour. He agrees so easily that Laban must
have wished he'd asked for more. The double-crossing brother is double-crossed as he marries Rachel's
sister Leah, and has to give another seven years of free labour to get Rachel, too. In
addition to two sisters, he also receives their two maids, who become his concubines.
These four women give Jacob twelve sons and one daughter. As a wealthy man with many sons
and fine flocks, Jacob leaves to head south, hoping to avoid Esau, and get back home intact.
And now our action step for today. How do you react when things don't go according
to your plans? Most of us don't like it. Some of us crumble. It's interesting to see
how Jacob reacts to being duped by Laban. He seems to accept it quietly, but I suspect
with gritted teeth and fresh determination. The mark of a true believer is how they respond
to disappointments. When things are going well, it's easy to be a faithful follower.
But when your world is falling to bits all around you, it's so much harder. If you're
struggling at the moment, why not just hang on in there and trust that God will honour
you and come through for you? After all, He is never a disappointment, and He is always
holding on to you.