Made perfect through suffering

As we were saying last day God was working out His sovereign plan and will,  even through the dysfunctional favouritism, outright lies and subtle deceit perpetrated by the four players in this drama (Genesis 27).  These poor choices had created an unresolvable enmity between Esau and Jacob.  And under the guise of looking for a wife from distant relatives,  Jacob was essentially fleeing for his life (Genesis 27).  So Jacob,  who was something of  his mothers boy staying with the tents (25:27), was in effect cast out of the family. He would never see his mother again,  and that night he had only a stone on which to lay his head (28:11).  He was at his  lowest point of life so far, and as we shall see, God chose this time to reveal Himself to him.

Galatians 6:7 reads “Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” After the fall God had cursed the earth for our sake (31 January). God was putting into action, the law of cause and effect in our choices.   What this means is that bad choices have bad consequences,  good choices good consequences, we reap what we sow.  Human nature being what it is, we are constantly trying to get away with things, in essence mocking God's law. But God cannot be mocked this way.  This is not like the law of gravity. If we step off the roof,  the consequences are immediate. Reaping what we sow is an agricultural analogy, where the growth is often slow, and cumulative. It had taken a long time for the consequences of Jacob stealing Esau's  birthright to come into effect, but now it was here.

When we are suffering, whether or not it's because of what we have done,  most of us cry out “why me?”  Jesus  suffered too for “Though He were a Son, yet He learned obedience through suffering” (Hebrews 5:8).  Everybody is happy to go along with things we want to do, but true obedience is about doing the right thing when we don't want to do it, or when it costs us. It's so much easier to blame others, or in a thousand other ways to try and wriggle out of things – been there, done that,  bought the T-shirt!

The point is that these low points are crossroads!  At such times we either become less open to God, even blaming Him, or we become more open to Him,  even seeking His help and comfort. That,  or our “Why me”s become something of a prayer. In my own life I apparently needed a series of such lows,  before I was open to allow Him into my life.  Some were of my own making, some not, but as with Jacob, the Lord knew the right time to reveal Himself to me. It was though my suffering that I became willing to do things His way, and to become obedient. Jesus was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 2:10)!  Me? I'm a work in progress!

Father, I want to thank You this morning that we can be certain that You  who began the good work within us, will continue the work until it is finally completed on the day when Christ Jesus returns (Philippians 1:6). Lord Jesus when we fully surrender to You there is fellowship with You in Your suffering,  and it releases Your resurrection power in our lives  (Philippians 3:10).  Give us grace Lord to endure as we surrender again this morning,  in Your precious Name Amen