Do Your Part and He’ll Take Care of His

“He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, ‘Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.’…’…And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’’ For he thought, ‘I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” Genesis 32:13-16, 20 NIV

Jacob is the Old Testament schemer who stole his brother, Esau’s, blessing. As can be expected, Esau was furious. He threatened to kill Jacob, who then fled. It’s been years since then, but God told Jacob to return to his country and relatives with the promise that He’d make him prosper (Gen 32:9).
      Jacob knows that God is a man of His word. He obeys God’s command, but as he gets closer, he starts to get nervous. He remembers his brother’s threat from years ago and decides to send gifts to inspire Esau’s forgiveness.
      He must have been really anxious because sent a lavish gift. He definitely wanted to get Esau to see him in a different light. Instead of a conniving thief, he wanted Esau to see him as a generous giver. That’s a big change.
      As I read this piece of Scripture, I realized that Jacob gave up more than he had to. God had promised that He would make him prosper. He had sent him on this journey, so God was definitely with him. But that wasn’t enough. Jacob had to ensure that things would be okay when he got back to his relatives.
      We do the same thing. When we don’t trust that God will be by our side and protect us, we end up giving up more than we would’ve had to. We try to ensure that things will go the way He promised by trying to do His job.
      Like Jacob, we wrestle with God. We want to do His will our way. Other times we refuse to do it until He promises to bless us and so we get hurt (or lose things) in wrestling with Him.  Jacob overcame the battle but at the cost of a wrenched hip (Gen 32:22-28). It’s counter productive because God’s way is always the blessed way. If Jacob had just done what God said he would’ve been blessed.
      I think, sometimes we’re just not satisfied until God’s blessing comes at a price. We’re so used to having to work for everything and the mentality that nothing comes free that we have a hard time grasping that God will provide as long as we’re obedient. It just seems too easy. Who would want so little in return for a huge blessing or promise?
      We have to remember that God isn’t like us. He doesn’t think the way we do. Plus, when He tells us to do something, He is working on His side to see it happen.
      In the end, Esau was happy to see Jacob again, and it had nothing to do with the caravan of gifts he’d sent. God changed Esau’s heart and even Jacob’s identity (Gen 32:28).
      God prepared the way for Jacob and He wants to do the same for us. We don’t need to do His part, we just have to stick to ours (ironically, that’s hard enough on its own). Before you put in extra work or resources, make sure God put that on your to do list and that you aren’t taking it from His, otherwise, you give up more than He asked.