God will accomplish his plan

 Read Genesis 33

Do you want to know where you stand in your family?  Who is the favorite?  Who is the black sheep? Who is the no-filter uncle?

It was easy in Jacob’s family.  Everyone was on a track to meet Esau and his 400 men.  He had already divided his estate into 2 camps in case Esau attacked.  Maybe some could get away.

But the time had come to meet his brother and see what the future held.  Jacob was up front, but he was followed by his two servant wives and their children.

Behind them were Leah and her children.  Finally, there was Rachel and Joseph.  If they were attacked, maybe Rachel would get away. Maybe she could safely find her way to one of the camps and survive with Joseph to continue the line in fulfilling this Father of Many Nations business.

Remember, this whole 20 years in Paddan Aram began with Jacob wanting Rachel as a wife.  He ended up married to Leah first, but he really loved Rachel. In all, he worked 14 years to get Rachel as his wife.

He stayed there a total of 20 years, but the last few were just growing his flocks.

So here we are coming face to face with Esau and his 400 men and Jacob is totally unsure of how this will go.  He had sent gifts to try and appease his brother, but anger is anger and we might ask, did 2 decades soften it or intensify it?

Really, who shows up to meet their brother with 400 men? This might not go well, but it did.

Esau ran to greet his brother.  He asked him about all the flocks and herds, and then told Jacob that was not necessary.  Esau had plenty. Jacob did not need to give him anything.

Finally, Esau accepted the gifts.  Jacob did not want to go back with his brother right then.  He said the herds with mothers and their offspring couldn’t go further without rest.  It wouldn’t be so easy on the human kids either.

So Esau returned home.

Jacob did not follow.  He went to a place that would be called Sukkoth near the city of Shechem and settled there.  Sukkoth means shelters.

Why is any of this important?  Was Jacob back to his deceptive nature? Was this just practical?  Really, Jacob showing up at Esau’s place with everything he owned and saying, “Mind if we stay a while, would be a bit overwhelming.”

We don’t know all of the particulars, but we know that Jacob bought some property in  this area and settled down. Again, what is the significance?

The place where Jacob settled was part of what God promised Abraham.  The place where Esau settled was not.  It was just outside the Promised Land in present-day Jordan or perhaps as far as Saudi Arabia.

Edom—the land of Esau’s descendants—would be part of the southern border of the Promised Land.

So was Jacob—now called Israel—back to his deceptive ways or just being practical—the whole this town ain’t big enough for the both of us sort of thing?

In any case, the story that would take all of Jacob’s family into Egypt would move forward from this place in the Promised Land.

God was with Jacob as promised.  Esau did not destroy him.

Jacob did not live on top of his brother.  He put some space between them.  They were still neighbors in one sense, but each would live their own lives.

Jacob had not married from the local pagan girls.  Esau did, plus he had one wife who was a descendant of Ishmael.

These two brothers, both descended from Abraham, had different callings in life. Jacob’s family would save the known world through Joseph, produce God's Chosen People, receive God’s law through Moses, return to the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, and produce the Savior of the world.

Esau’s family would be known as Edom.  Remember that Edom means red.  Esau was reddish and harry when he was born and he sold his birthright for a red-looking bowl of stew.

Edom means red and so the Edomites are named after a red person.  Have you ever heard anything like that before in your life?

Anyone take Oklahoma history?  Oklahoma means red people.  I don’t think there is any biblical significance in that, but it’s a nice rabbit trail.

Edom is involved in more biblical history, but most of the story follows Jacob’s line. Jacob’s family would leave the Promised Land for Egypt and in something over 400 years, return to it.

This was God’s plan. You are part of God’s plan. Your job or next job, your education or your dropping out of school, your perfect game or your game with 4 errors are part of his plan.

It is sometimes hard to see at the moment, but we are being molded like clay into the creature—the new creature that God wants us to be.

Almost 10 years ago, I was sitting in my office as part of a ministerial alliance meeting.  Two of the pastors were going on mission trips.  Both said, we can always use another pastor.  It’s easy to find people to give out food and Bibles but a little more difficult to find someone equipped to preach, teach, baptize, and pray without notice.

I said, “I’ll know when God calls me to go.” This discussion did not seem like a call to me, but it preceded one.

The next week, I received an email from someone in Kenya claiming to be a bishop and wanting me to come to preach to and teach pastors and church leaders.  After some due diligence—I have also received those emails that say for just $1000 charged to my Visa, an imprisoned Kenyan prince would give me half of his multimillion-dollar fortune—I answered his email.

In the course of emails and phone calls, I asked him how he came up with me.  He said that he read one of my articles.  I think it was the one about love being the strongest force in the universe.  That’s when he contacted me.

I went to Kenya twice.  Most of you remember that, but I wrote that article with you as my target audience.  It was connected to a sermon a dozen years ago.

God will do what God will do and he will direct our paths to accomplish his will.

If you took some time to contemplate all of the seemingly insignificant things in your life, you might just see God at work.

So, your challenge for this week is to do the Psalm 46:10 thing and be still.  Know that he is God and reflect upon what is happening in your life.

Some of it might be to show you the path to which you are called.  Some might be to let you hit rock bottom so you trade in your own understanding for trusting God. Some of it is just too logical.  Some is not.

This morning’s message is that God will use your decisions to accomplish his will and finish the good work that he began in you. Make the best decisions that you can always seeking to please God, but remember, his plan will be accomplished.

You might mess up, make a complete mess of everything you thought you were accomplishing, and even find yourself at rock bottom, but you can’t mess up God’s plan, and that includes God’s plan for your life. 

You are not that powerful!

Because you have received Jesus as Lord, you are his and he won’t lose you.

Never give up for God never gives up on you.

Amen.