He Sees Us

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

HE SEES US

Gen 31:38-42

38 "I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. 40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you."

NIV

There is a difference between sitting and waiting for God to bless us, and laboring, even under hard circumstances, because of trust in God. Jacob is an example of someone who knew the God of Abraham and Isaac; the people of Israel also knew the God of Jacob, who feared the LORD and did right in his conduct and affairs with Laban. He worked under extreme conditions for twenty years, profiting Laban, even though Laban was unfair to Jacob. This gives us a clue as to how we should approach life. Whatever the Lord has led us to do with our hands, we should do that work as though it is for the Lord. Paul wrote that truth to the Colossians. That truth included the promise that we will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. We are serving the Lord. This applies to us as individuals, but it should also apply to the church. We should not come to church out of habit or because we think we are supposed to. We should want to worship our Lord and do what he has called us to do, as a church. Jacob knew God watched over him, saw his hardship, and sustained him as he labored for Laban. This is the basic truth we must always remember: God sees our labor, watches over us, and cares for us. At the same time, we must remember that we are to do whatever he leads our hands to do. Our lives belong to him, and by confessing that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, we give up our right to make our own choices. That does not mean we cannot choose which day to go shopping, when to do laundry, or other daily activities. The choice we surrender to our Lord is about our life goals and the direction of our lives, both as individuals and as the church. If we go through life on autopilot, going through the motions, but our hearts aren't fully committed to how the Lord works in and through us, we may lose sight of who we are and that we belong to him. Jacob knew God had dealt with Laban for his benefit. We can see this truth in our lives. God may work through others to advance the plan He has for our lives. It comes down to this: God is in charge; He leads, we follow. He gives us the work of our hands. He sees us.