(Heb 13:5-6)
As I was reading through the book of Genesis, I came across the phrase, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" as God is using Abraham's family to fulfill his will and promise on the earth. He gives this assurance multiple times in scripture. In this particular case, Jacob was being chased out of his father Isaac's house because he had stolen a blessing from Esau, his older twin. While it was certainly Jacob's guile that led to his situation, at the same time Esau was an unworthy person on which God could build his people - after all, Esau sold his birthright for a serving of stew, and he would not obey his father and mother when he selected wives who worshipped false gods.
Following the Lord is often harder than following our own heart and its inclinations. When we look at the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we see that they were often chased out of their settlements either by the call of God, famine, or difficulties in their lives. Jacob later ends up working for his uncle Laban for fourteen years just to secure the woman that he loves. I don't know if there is a person in the USA who would make that kind of sacrifice or undergo that kind of hardship today. I think we would be too worried about our career development and asking, "I wonder how this will look on my resume - worked for fourteen years as a servant to my uncle in order to gain a wife?" No matter what the call of God, we would be too ashamed to accept such a role for fear of worldly perception, lost time, and lowered prospects.
Oh, we certainly like to look at the passages of scripture where God blesses Abraham or Isaac with success and great flocks, but we really don't want to look at the kind of hard times that they had to endure. After all, both Abraham, Isaac, and even Jacob endured famines so severe that they left their property to either go to Egypt or the land of the Philistines. What would my reaction be if the Lord caused us to be starved and broke to the point where we had to beg the grace of a foreign nation like Mexico or Canada in order to survive? Would we praise God as they did, or would we instead just curse Him and go our own ways?
Ultimately, the Lord promises never to leave us nor forsake us. He doesn't promise a perfect life or a super rich life. We aren't slated in scripture to have whatever we desire to the point where everyone will envy us. Rather, we will be tempted by those around us who seem to have plenty of cool toys and gadgets, who take amazing trips to exotic places, who have great jobs, who have fame, and who drive nicer cars than us.
But, our reaction to such things is key to the condition of our souls. If we react in envy, we do not appreciate the Lord's wisdom in the level of what we have. We will lose our hearts to the things of the world without appreciating the salvation that has been given to us. Add to that the sheer fact that we are not alone in this world. We must remember that we have a mighty God who stands with us, and measures the content of our character, and not the size of our wallets.
In addition, we have the blessed assurance that we will be fine. Through recessions, depressions, inflation, deflation, good times and bad, God will be with us and will take care of us. No, it won't always be in the fashion that we desire and things may not come easily to us, but the Lord is still there with us. The Lord is still leading us in His path and things will come in His timing.
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your word today. I know that I must work to grow in faith and contentment in whatever You have brought to us. I cannot measure everything by the level of my salary, but instead I need to trust in You and simply obey. If I follow You, then things will be made clear in due time, and we will always be taken cared of. Thank You Lord. Again and again, you have brought our family through good times and bad, but ultimately You have simply wanted to be near to us. And we are not worthy of such grace. In Jesus' name, AMEN.
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