WEBVTT

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Day 11, or January the 11th. Disappointments

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don't have to break you. Our thought today is

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rooted in Genesis chapter 29, verses 27 and 28.

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Finish this daughter's bridal week, then we will

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give you the younger one also, in return for

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another seven years of work. And Jacob did so.

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First, the big picture surrounding these verses.

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Jacob meets his match in trickery when he encounters

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Laban who will become his father -in -law twice

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over. Jacob thinks everything is going very well

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when he asks for Rachel to be his wife and her

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father agrees. He must think back to his negotiations

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with God when he raised conditions in return

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for following God. This time the sandal is on

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the other foot, so to speak. As Laban tells him,

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the price for Rachel is seven years of non -paid

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labour. He agrees so easily that Laban must have

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wished he'd asked for more. The double -crossing

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brother is double -crossed as he marries Rachel's

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sister Leah, and has to give another seven years

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of free labour to get Rachel too. In addition

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to two sisters, he also receives their two maids,

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who become his concubines. These four women give

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Jacob twelve sons and one daughter. As a wealthy

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man with many sons and fine flocks, Jacob leaves

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to head south, hoping to avoid Esau and get back

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home intact. And now our action step for today.

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How do you react when things don't go according

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to your plans? Most of us don't like it. Some

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of us crumble. It's interesting to see how Jacob

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reacts to being duped by Laban. He seems to accept

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it quietly, but I suspect with gritted teeth

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and fresh determination. The mark of a true believer

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is how they respond to disappointments. When

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things are going well, it's easy to be a faithful

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follower. But when your world is falling to bits

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all around you, it's so much harder. If you're

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struggling at the moment, why not just hang on

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in there and trust that God will honour you and

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come through for you? After all, He is never

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a disappointment, and He is always holding on

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to you.