Knowing God’s will and walking faithfully in His path is the greatest privilege and responsibility of God’s children. But finding God’s will at every stage of life is the biggest challenge that every child of God faces in his or her life. Billy Graham said,
“God’s will is for us to commit our lives to Christ and follow Him. God’s will also is that we avoid sin.”
Distractions in life, attractions of the world, influence of the value systems of the world, and lack of sensitivity to His leading can easily deviate us from God’s will and path. Our thought for reflection this morning is “Our God Wants Us to Acknowledge Him in All Our Ways so that We May Not Miss His Path.”
“After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within the sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent.”
(Genesis 33:18-19)
At first Jacob settled at Succoth (Genesis 33:17) which was on the borders of Canaan. That was Jacob’s strange decision as he was expected to return to Bethel. The key question is, “If God had called Jacob to return to his homeland, why he settled outside it? Later he moved in the direction of Bethel but again stopped short at Shechem, bought a piece of land and settled among the Hivites (Genesis 33:19). That suggests another departure of Jacob from God’s will and path. For that he paid a heavy price:
1. Jacob’s daughter Dinah was violated.
Shechem was just one day’s journey short of Bethel but yet Jacob disobeyed the call to return to Bethel and paid a heavy price for settling in Shechem. A young Hivite was infatuated with his daughter Dinah and violated her. That young man later wanted to legally marry Dinah which almost subjected Jacob’s descendants to lose their identity. If Jacob had accepted the proposal of the Hivites, surely he would have jeopardized God’s will of playing a critical role in bringing blessing to the nations by compromising the purity of the descent from Abraham. Are we too, at times, jeopardizing God’s perfect will in our lives by compromising our purity and doing our own will?
2. Jacob’s sons turned intomurderers.
In order to avenge the violation of their sister Dinah by the Hivite, Jacob’s sons plotted to murder all the men of Shechem. They deceived the men of Shechem by asking them to be circumcised before they could give their sister Dinah in marriage to the man who defiled Dinah. But after they all had been circumcised, Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi, attacked the unsuspecting city and killed every male (Genesis 34:25). Throughout the narrative in Genesis 34, we do not find Jacob seeking God’s intervention to handle his family problem. Jacob is portrayed as a father who had lost his moral authority to check his sons and allowed them to act as they liked. Are we too just remaining as silent spectators, when others are making major decisions for us and our families?
Elizabeth Eliot warns us with these words:
“The will of God is not something you add to your life. It’s a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God… or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world.”
Let’s pray:
“Dear Lord, we surrender ourselves to do only your will. Help us not to compromise our purity or remain silent, allowing others to make decisions for us. We decide to look up to you always for guidance. Give us the grace to be sensitive to your leading.
In Jesus’ name,... Amen!”
Blessed day!