Two Responses

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

TWO RESPONSES

Gen 32:6-12

6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." 7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape." 9 Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'"

NIV

Jacob has this great fear because his brother is coming with four hundred men. It would appear on the surface that Esau intends to enact revenge on his brother for stealing his birthright and his blessing. We see Jacob responding in two ways. Unfortunately, his first action is from his human fear, dividing all that he has into two camps hoping that if Esau attacks only one camp will suffer from the attack while the second escapes. Then he prays. Of course, his prayer is similar to many prayers in that it reminds God what he said he would do. The point or lesson we take from this response of Jacob is to do human action first, then pray. We think it would be best to pray first before taking any action from our human intelligence or emotions such as fear, or just anxiety, apprehension, or pride. Our actions are driven by our weak human condition, while God is always strong, for he is our refuge, our strong tower, fortress, our ever-present help in trouble. Prayer should always be our first response in all situations in life. We are told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things will be added unto us as well. That means all the things in life will be handled by God if we look to him first. He will fight the battle for us and do it the right way, for if we try first to fight the battle alone, or before we go to him, we will surely fight in the wrong way, making mistakes. Yes, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and we can either pay attention to his influence upon our hearts and minds, or we can quench him, while we try it our way first. We can have confidence God will always be ready to fight our battles, answer our needs, give us guidance, and light the path for our feet, as he directs our footsteps. But we have to look to him above all else and look to him first. We know from the rest of the story of the meeting with Esau, that Jacob’s great fear was unfounded, as Esau embraced him. So often our fears or anxieties are unfounded because God is on our side. Let us always seek him first, hear from his voice, listen to the Spirit, and move and have our being with God, walking with Him, letting God lead us in the way we should go. It is not about how we think, but how God knows. We have the choice between two responses.