SIN & GRACE: A ONE-SIDED CONFLICT
GRACE OVERCOMES FEAR
Genesis 32: 1-33
INTRODUCTION
God gave me a new heart in March of 1975. He put his Spirit in me and
caused me to walk in his ways, to use the words of Ezekial. Or he caused
me to be born again by the word of truth, to use the words of Peter. Shortly
after I came to faith in Jesus it became clear to me that God was calling
me into full-time Christian ministry. By the time Jane and I were married
a year and a half later we knew that it was God’s will for us to join
the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. There were a lot of barriers that
stood between us and actually being on a campus talking with students
about Christ. But none was greater in my mind than developing our own
financial support team. Here we were, 23 year olds, just out of college
with no money and no car and the only way we would get paid was if we
could convince enough people to give us money to go tell students about
Christ.
My parents generously allowed us to move into the basement of the house
I grew up in and use their phone and their car as we began this preposterous
adventure. I say "preposterous" because everyone in both our
families thought we were crazy. We were told that we needed to raise $1350
per month to cover our salary, benefits and training expenses in order
to serve with Campus Crusade. I can safely say that those were the hardest
four months of our lives. Fear was my constant companion. I developed
a nervous twitch in my eyelid from the anxiety I experienced every day
when I had to call people, usually strangers and ask them if I could come
and talk with them about how they could help us financially to share Christ
with college students. I knew that what I was doing was what God wanted
me to do and yet what he wanted me to do was a source of great fear in
my life.
Over these 25 years of walking with Christ I have discovered that this
is usually how it is with God’s will for our lives. God graciously and
freely saves us and then he graciously commands us to do things that are
scary so that we have no choice but to trust in him. This is exactly the
situation with Jacob. God has commanded him to leave Haran and return
to Canaan. He has graciously saved him from the plots of his wicked uncle
and father-in-law, Laban. But now he must face the ghosts from his past.
He must face his brother Esau. If you’ll remember, Jacob fled from Canaan
20 years ago because his brother was plotting his murder because he had
stolen his birthright. While 20 years has gone by, Jacob has no way of
knowing how Esau will respond to him and, as we’ll see, he assumes the
worst. He is doing what God commands and what God commands is full of
risk and therefore he must wrestle with fear. We are going to see in chapter
32 of Genesis that…
MAIN POINT
Grace creates and sustains faith that overcomes fear by …
I. Teaching us that God is present (vv. 1-2)
Chapter 31 ends with the peaceful departure of Laban. The final scene
of that chapter, with Laban kissing and blessing his daughters and grandchildren
is nothing short of miraculous given how the chapter began. But as is
so often the case in our lives, we no sooner get through one stressful
situation but another one immediately looms in front of us. So it is with
Jacob. He watches his father-in-law and his men march off into the east
and then he turns around and looks into the west, where lies Canaan and
his brother Esau. Ah, but now see the marvelous kindness and faithfulness
of God to him. He moves his family and flocks, westward, along the valley
of the Jabbok River. One evening, after he sets up his camp, he looks
west and sees an encampment of angels spread out before him. There are
no words spoken, no message from God. God opens his eyes and he sees an
army of angels camped before him and around him. So in a very clear and
tender way, God assures him that he is indeed with him. He is the one
who delivered him from murderous Laban and He will certainly guard and
protect him as he returns to Canaan, to his angry and murderous brother.
God often, when he calls us to an act of obedience that is risky, will
give us tokens of his presence to assure us that he is going to protect
and keep us. He does this so that we will have the courage to move forward
and so that our hope will be in him and not our own resources. Sometimes
he shows himself in our circumstances. The first week that we spent raising
support we visited with four families that I knew from the church I had
grown up in. At the end of that week, all four families were committed
to being a part of our support team. Together they committed to giving
us almost $250 per month. That was the only time we raised that amount
of money in one week. God did that to let us know that he was going to
take care of us. I think of the first four months after we moved to Janesville
to plant this church. During that short period of time I met the Martins
and the Juhls and the Ploegerts and the Burri’s and the Wojciewchowski’s
and so many other people who were interested in what we were trying to
do. Sometimes he shows his presence through the encouragement of another
person. Several years ago I was very worried about a difficult conversation
I needed to have. I felt very inadequate and feared the response of the
other person. A good friend called me the day before I was going to speak
to this other person to thank me for how I had helped him at a difficult
time in his life. This conversation reminded me of how God had been with
me in the past and gave me the courage to do what God wanted me to do.
Sometimes he manifests his presence through his word or while we are in
prayer. There have been countless times I have been faced with a difficult
and fear producing task that God has used his promises and assured me
that he is with me and that I do not need to fear. I remember one spring
after Jared was born when we had to raise more support due to an increase
in our salary from his birth. I had no idea where I was going to find
people to talk with about our need. I was very frightened as we drove
to my parent’s home where we would stay for a month while I worked on
raising money. After we unpacked I went out on their back porch and opened
my Bible to Psalm 66 and read vv. 8-10, "Praise our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept
our feet from slipping. For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like
silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You
let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought
us to a place of abundance." I knew that what I was facing was going
to be difficult. But after reading this I knew that God had brought me
into this difficulty for good purposes and that he would bring me through.
I knew he was with me and that gave me the courage to do what I needed
to do.
Grace creates and sustains faith that overcomes fear by…
- Teaching us that God is present
- And by…
II. Placing us in fearful situations (vv. 3-8)
Notice that Jacob does not try to sneak into Canaan. He knows that he
is going to have to face his brother sooner or later and so, emboldened
by God’s revealing the army of angels who were with him he takes the initiative
to contact Esau. He is not cocky. He is very humble in his approach to
Esau. He calls him lord and himself, "your servant". He lets
Esau know that he is not contacting him because he needs what Esau has.
He informs him that he is amply supplied and wants just one thing, to
have Esau look upon him with favor. He is, in essence, acknowledging his
guilt to Esau and asking Esau to forgive him. He is obeying God and seeking
to do what God wants. Then in v. 6 the messengers he sent to Esau return
with no message from Esau. They simply report that Esau is on his way
to greet Jacob, accompanied by 400 men.
Verse 7 is one of the reasons I love the Bible. What does Jacob do when
he hears the news that Esau is coming to meet him with a company of 400
men? Well, he does what most of us would do, he assumes the worst is about
to happen. His heart is struck with fear and he is in great distress.
This is the gut-wrenching, panic kind of fear that he is experiencing
here and you can see his panic in what he immediately does. Without a
moments hesitation he divides his camp into two camps and puts some distance
between them. His logic is that when Esau comes and attacks one of the
camps the other one will have a chance to escape. Just imagine the frantic
activity of that day as flocks are separated and tents are packed up and
moved and friends say goodbye to one another for perhaps the last time.
Kids are crying, nobody has time to eat or to think. It’s just non-stop
motion until the one camp has been made into two camps. Esau is on his
way and Jacob has no place to run, there is nothing he can do except divide
his camp in two and hope that one of the camps will be able to escape
destruction. He is certain that destruction is going to come. He resigns
himself to it and acts out of his fear and panic. What kind of a plan
is this anyway? This is the kind of thing we do when we are frightened.
So we see that Jacob is full of fear and acts as people who are afraid
act, impulsively and foolishly. He is just like us. Also notice that he
has no certain information that Esau plans to harm him. He is simply assuming,
based on his own perceptions and thinking, that Esau is coming to destroy
him. He is full of this fear within days of having seen the army of angels
that is with him.
However, what you must see is that he is in this tight spot because God
has put him there. God told him to go to Canaan. God encouraged him with
the vision of angels to initiate contact with Esau. He is in the position
he is in because God put him there. God wants us to be in risky situations
so that we will have no other recourse but to turn to him. There is no
question that Jacob is a believer and is living in obedience to the Lord.
However that does not prevent him from responding to the circumstances
he finds himself in with fear and the foolish, frantic behavior that fear
produces. Jacob’s initial response is so much like how we respond to fearful
situations. He does not seek God but rather he acts out of his fear.
Grace creates and sustains faith that overcomes fear by…
- Teaching us God is present
- Placing us in fearful situations
- And by…
III. Motivating biblical prayer (vv. 9-12)
In the late afternoon, after a day of frantic activity, Jacob looks at
the situation and is confronted with how vulnerable he really is. I can
almost hear him sighing as he stands on a hill from where he can look
at both his camps, realizing what a helpless condition he is in. It is
here, at this point that we see that Jacob truly is a man of faith. God
has changed him. He prays a prayer that is a model of what true prayer
is to be. I would highly recommend that you take some time this week by
yourself and meditate on Jacob’s prayer in vv. 9-12. Let’s look at it
together.
Where does he begin? "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father
Isaac, O Lord who said to me…" He approaches God not because of anything
in himself but because God has made promises to his father, his grandfather
and to him. He isn’t coming to God demanding that God listen to him because
of who he is. He is coming to God on the basis of all that God has promised
to Abraham, Isaac and to him. He does not come to God in his own name
but on the basis of God’s promises. He is doing what we must do. Jesus
said, "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that
the Son may bring glory to the Father." We must come to God on the
basis of all that he has promised us in Jesus not because of who we are.
"In the name of Jesus" is not just a cliché we tack on
to the end of our prayers. It means we come to God because of who he is,
not because of who we are. We come asking for things that he would want
us to ask for. We come desiring that he be shown to be great, not that
we be shown to be great. Second, notice that he reminds God of his command
and his promise. In other words, he reminds God that he is in the position
he is in because God put him there. "I am here, on the edge of Canaan
because you told me to come here. I am here because you promised to do
good to me. I am not here for any other reason than I am doing what you
said, counting on you to be faithful to your promises." Here is where
so much of our praying goes wrong. We don’t pray because we need God’s
resources to do his will but because we want God to do our will. We
wonder why it seems that God never answers our prayers when the simple
reason is that we are asking him to help us do our will rather than asking
his help to do his will. Let me repeat that. Do you want to have answers
to your prayers? Then be about your Father’s business and ask your Father
to give you what he has promised to give you so that you can do his business.
God is not Santa Claus. He is not interested in helping you worship the
idols of your own heart. He delights in giving you everything you need
to do his will. However, if you do not delight in doing his will, he has
no interest in listening to and answering your prayers.
Third, oh don’t miss this, "I am unworthy of all the kindness and
faithfulness you have shown your servant." Then he recounts how when
he left Canaan all he had was his staff and now he owns so much that it
can make two entire, self-sufficient camps. What is amazing about this
statement is that he served like a slave for 20 years to get what he has.
Yet he knows that the reason he has what he has is not because of his
work but because of God’s grace. He deserves nothing. He demands nothing.
He doesn’t approach God with the attitude that so many of us have, "I
deserve to be treated better. It’s not fair that I don’t have this or
that. God if you love me, you’ll do this for me." No, Jacob knows
that all that he has is a gift from God and that if God is going to care
for him now it will not be because he deserves to be treated better than
he is being treated. If you are approaching God or man with the attitude
that you deserve to be treated better or that its not fair that you are
being treated the way you are being treated, then you are not thinking
straight. Jacob knows that he deserves nothing but judgment from God and
that all the good he is experiencing is due not to his merit, not to who
he is or what he has done but entirely as a free and gracious gift.
Fourth, he finally asks God to do what only God can do. He tells God
that he wants to be rescued from Esau’s hand and he tells God that he
is afraid that Esau will attack and kill he, his wives and his children.
He is saying, "God you have brought me here, you have given me everything
I have, now I’m asking you to deliver, to rescue all your work."
So even in his asking for help the emphasis is not on him or what he wants
but on God and what he has done. He is asking God to display the glory
of his own name by protecting, that which truly belongs to him. There
is even a sense in this prayer of resignation to the will of God. Although
he doesn’t say, "if it be your will" that is the import of how
he prays. All that he has is from God and so if God chooses not to deliver
him, then who can blame God because he gave it and it is his to take away.
Jacob is submissive to the will of God. He is not one of these foolish
people who believe that if he just follows the right formula, if he says
the right words, that God will always do as he asks. But now notice how
he ends his prayer.
He reminds God and himself that God has promised to do good to him and
to multiply his descendants like the sand by the seashore, which cannot
be counted. It’s like a light goes on in Jacob’s brain. God uses his word
to confirm to Jacob his will. Jacob knows at the end of his prayer, that
whether he survives or not, God is going to fulfill his promise to multiply
his descendants. It is inconceivable that God would allow Esau to completely
destroy his family because of what he has promised to him.
There is one final thing I don’t want you to miss from this prayer. Jacob’s
entire prayer would not exist if God had given no command or made no promise.
He prays as he does because he is responding to what God has said. How
much you pray and how many of your prayers are being answered is directly
proportional to your knowledge of God’s word. Prayer is not a magic incantation
to unleash the power of the genie we call God. It is rather, the response
of a child to the commands and promises of its father. It is the response
of the soldier in the field to the commands and promises of his commanding
officer. God hears the prayers of the people who are doing his will on
earth as it is being done in heaven. It is a mark that is common to all
the prayers in the Bible, they are a response to and based upon God’s
commands and his promises. Are your prayers a response to what God has
commanded and promised or are they simply your wish list for a trouble
free life in the suburbs of America?
Grace creates and sustains faith that overcomes fear by…
- Teaching us God is present
- Placing us in fearful situations
- Motivating biblical prayer
- And…
IV. Enabling courageous but humble action (vv. 13-21)
After Jacob casts his cares upon the Lord he makes arrangements to send
a gift to Esau. Now it would be easy to presume that Jacob’s prayer was
a sham and hypocrisy as it looks as if he might be up to his old tricks
in putting together this gift. However, in v. 20 he explains his motives
and we will discover that he is not manipulating but acting in faith.
But first, notice what he does. He chooses out of his herds, 200 female
goats, 20 male goats, 200 female sheep, 20 male sheep, 30 camels with
nursing young, forty cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and 20 male
donkeys. In modern equivalence this amounts to close to $500,00 worth
of livestock. This is a very generous gift. Then he divides the animals
up into 5 or 6 groups and sends them across the Jabbok River and on the
journey to meet Esau. He puts some space between each group so that Esau
will encounter each of the five groups separately over a period of time.
He gives the herdsmen very specific instructions on what they are to say
as each of them meet Esau. When Esau asks who they are and who owns the
animals they are each to say, "The animals belong to your servant
Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau and he is coming behind."
He particularly emphasizes their need to tell Esau, "Your servant,
Jacob, is coming behind us."
Now look at v. 20. Jacob here explains why he is doing this. First he
says that the gifts are meant to pacify Esau. The word he uses for "pacify,"
is the word that is used throughout the OT for God being pacified by animal
sacrifices. In other words, it is the word that describes how God’s just
anger against the sins of his people is appeased by the giving of the
animal’s life. Also, the word that is translated "gift" is used
in the OT for the offerings the Israelites make to God to appease his
just anger. Finally, the word translated "receive" is also used
for what God does with the Israelite who makes an offering. God receives
the Israelite because of the shed blood of the animal. Jacob is acknowledging
that Esau has a right to be angry with him. He knows that Esau would not
be wrong to punish him for his deception and the theft of his birthright.
Jacob is acting in faith in the sending of these gifts. He is trusting
God to deliver him and putting himself under the authority of his brother.
He is openly admitting his guilt and trusting that God will deliver him
through his generous gift. When you trust God by praying that doesn’t
mean you don’t act. Jacob both prays and acts in faith. The word that
really jumps out at me is the word "perhaps". He says, "perhaps
he will receive me." Here again we see the submission and faith of
Jacob. He is completely in God’s hands. He will not demand anything from
Esau, he does all that he can to make things right knowing that Esau may
reject it all and still destroy him. He voluntarily parts with such a
large gift because he is so intent on inheriting the promises of God and
being right with his brother.
The courage and humility of Jacob are striking. When we are in relationships
that are in a state of conflict because of injuries real or perceived
the only way for the relationship to be healed is for one of the parties
to do what Jacob does here. He courageously initiates. He doesn’t wait
for Esau to come to him, he goes to Esau. He humbly admits his faults
and gives all that he can give in order to show his desire to be reconciled.
He holds nothing back but pours out love upon his brother. But he doesn’t
demand to be accepted. He knows that it would not be unjust if Esau refused
his offer and destroyed him. He trusts that God will do what is best.
He does all he can to make things right and then trusts God with the outcome.
He is courageous in his love, humble in his expectations and willing to
pay any price to do what God wants.
Grace creates and sustains faith that overcomes fear by…
- Teaching us God is present
- Placing us in fearful situations
- Motivating biblical prayer
- Enabling courageous but humble action
© Copyright
2001 John Swanson.
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