Do You Fight Change?

Reading through Jacob’s life story reminds me of the many changes we face as we journey through our different seasons of life. I loved being at home with my preschool children. We were involved in different groups in the community and church so something was always going on. I loved seeing their development and being so involved in their lives.

But I was also happy to see them off to school. Over the years teachers and peers influenced my kids. I had a different role to play. I could still be there for them and guide them in their choices and enable them. I could still be a big part of their lives even as they went to university and entered the work force.

The change I found hard to accept and work through was when they married. I was thrilled for each of them to find such a wonderful partner but I knew my role was changing dramatically. I didn’t mind the empty nest but my husband and I no longer were their emotional support. And although that’s how it should be, it left a hole in my life. But it was also for good because it then became a special time for my husband and I to bond more closely.

Jacob didn’t always go through his life’s changes smoothly either. He was happy at home with his mother who favored him. He cheated his brother and had to leave home so his brother couldn’t kill him. He met the girl of his dreams and then her father gave him her sister for his wife instead. He didn’t always make good decisions.

So he was cheated by Laban his father in law.  He also cheated his father in law. He became rich but then his brother-in -laws became jealous and he had to move on.  God used all of these things to further circumstances in Jacob’s life to bless him and make his name great.  During all of these events God taught  Jacob to listen to Him and obey Him.

To Share with Your Children:

Nothing that happens to you is by co -incidence. Every thing has to have God’s OK before it happens in your life. Did you know that?

When you were careless and broke your leg He could have prevented it. Or when your seemingly best friend started a bad rumor about you He could have chosen to stop it before it hurt you. He allowed them to be and then used them to show you something special that you might not have learned other wise; something good.

He doesn’t make the bad or difficult things happen in your life but He sees them coming and decides if He will allow them. Then He uses them for good to mature you and grow character in you. That’s how He makes you the person He wants you to be. The catch is that you have to accept trials and problems in your life and see them as stepping stones to being the best person you can be. You have to choose to be obedient to God- do the right thing- and then He uses these  for good in your life and those involved.

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I want to walk with you spiritually this year, inviting you to read the Bible through from cover to cover; from Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation 22:21. If that sounds too difficult for you and your kids, you can join in again after you have taken a break or join us for the days you’re up to it. We will start on Sunday, January 18th and finish Saturday, January 16, 2010. I promise that you will understand the Bible in a much deeper way if you read it through from cover to cover in a year’s time.

Accept my challenge to read the Bible through in one year chronologically, including the Old and the New Testament.

Day 14: Today read:
Genesis 30:1-31:16
Matthew 10:1-23
Psalm 12:1-8
Proverbs 3:13-15

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