Genesis 31:3-6 "And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, and said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. And ye know that with all my power I have served your father."
Genesis 31:11-13 "And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred."
In chapters twenty-nine and thirty of Genesis, we see how God led Jacob to the household of his uncle, Laban. In much the same fashion as God had dealt with Abraham’s servant when he went to seek our Rebekah for Isaac, Jacob almost immediately met and fell in love with Rachel, who was Laban’s daughter. Jacob agreed to work for Laban for seven years in exchange for Rachel becoming his wife. However, Laban treated deceitfully with Jacob.
At the end of that seven years, Laban brought his oldest daughter, Leah, to Jacob’s tent. Jacob had consummated the union with Leah before he discovered Laban’s treachery. He then agreed to work another seven years for Laban in order to have Rachel. Jacob eventually worked for Laban for a total of twenty years. During that time, Laban changed the nature of his agreement with Jacob ten different times in an effort to gain the upper hand from Jacob’s labor.
In spite of Laban’s best efforts to the contrary, God prospered Jacob so that he had a large family, servants, and huge flocks. Knowing Laban’s tendency toward deceitfulness, Jacob moved his flocks and his belongings a three day’s journey from Laban’s holdings. Seeing Jacob prosper created jealousy among Laban’s sons, and they accused Jacob of gaining at their father’s expense. All this conspired to change Laban into an open foe against Jacob.
Take a moment to think about this. Jacob had endured all of this over a span of twenty years. Yet, he waited on the LORD, who blessed him and prospered him in the midst of all Laban’s treachery. Our nature is such that we do not want to wait five minutes for the coffee to brew. If God has not answered our prayers by the time we say “amen,” then we are ready to take matters into our own hands.
I encourage you, dear ones, to wait on the LORD. Trust Him to prosper you in the waiting and in spite of the many challenges that you may face. Know that God is still the same regardless of how many times men may change the rules. Remember His promises to you and trust Him to fulfill them in due time. May we be like Job and wait on the LORD all the days of our appointed time (Job 14:14).