Genesis 32:6 “And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.”

Do you like to be in control?

We all do… and we all want to be in control.

Even as Christians, we would much rather things be in our control, in our hand (or so we think)… than leave things in God’s hands.

I’ve learnt so much from Jacob’s life this last season of my life, I’ve drawn great comfort and encouragement from his story as I have identified more with him with some of the things that have been confronting my life.

From Jacob’s ladder, to Jacob’s spotted and speckled sheep, to Jacob’s new name… there’s so much to learn from his life… as that pilgrim progressed, hopefully we as pilgrims in this world are progressing with Christ as we head towards our home in heaven!

In Genesis 32, Jacob has finally left Laban. He’s sick of Laban’s lies and deceit, and he’s decided to follow God in his life.

He’s obeying God’s word by returning home, home to the land which God promised his grandpa. God has blessed him out in the far country, he’s got wives and children, God has been good to him, and he’s not leaving with nothing either.

But he’s about to come to the greatest distress yet! In his life.

He’s about to meet Esau, his long lost brother. Well not long lost, but he hasn’t seen him or been anywhere near him for many years… and that’s by design! He had originally left home, a new season of his life starting all because his brother was mad at him and basically sworn to kill him on sight.

If there’s one guy he’s scared of in this world… it’s Esau. Is there anyone you would be scared to see again? Maybe it’s because you wronged them, not they wronged you, we all have things we are guilty about that we can be on the run from for many years.

But in going home, Jacob has to face Esau first. That’s just like God… he never lets us get away with anything! We’d like to take a little shortcut, I’m sure Jacob would’ve liked to take a detour around this confrontation in his life!

I’m not sure about you, but there are things we can be in a cold sweat about having to face maybe for days, months, weeks or years… things we dread facing, but that God wants us to face for our good.

Jacob’s used to being able to manipulate situations to his advantage, he’s already met his match in Laban, but he’s never been this out of control in his life!

The verse quoted above is where he sends messengers to Esau, hey I’m passing through, I’m keen to see you (he really isn’t), how ya going… and he says everything he thinks can appease his brother.

The messengers deliver Jacob’s carefully scripted message… but then they return and say oh boy, Esau is on his way to meet you… and he’s got four hundred men with him!

Why would he have four hundred men with him? There could be only one reason right? Imagine what Jacob would have thought… and yet we don’t really need to imagine, because this news put him into a panic.

It’s amazing how wild our imagination can run. Because for all of Jacob’s fear, worry and anxiety about meeting Esau… he really had nothing to worry about, God had already taken care of Esau and it was going to be fine.

But God was taking Jacob into rarified air. He was taking Jacob into “impossibility”… and impossibility is the water that every Christian will tread at times in their Christian walk just like Peter did. Let’s walk on the water together!

In meeting Esau, and not just facing him, but thinking that he’s coming with men to fulfill his promise in killing him… oh and his wife and children too… that was a situation completely beyond Jacob’s ability to control… he was going to have to completely trust God… and we all talk about trusting God… but we truly don’t really trust him… and it doesn’t take much to bring that truth out.

It’s amazing to me that while Esau was coming, that night Jacob was fighting God about it. Truly we have some of the weirdest battles going on inside us… nobody else may see it, but faith truly is a fight, and often we are fighting of all people… God himself. What are you fighting God about?

Jacob was fighting God in trusting God. Remember, God had made some precious promises to Jacob many years ago at Bethel, in a key moment in his life as he was facing a new chapter in his life, and all the uncertainties with it. Aren’t God’s promises a comfort in times of trouble!

God had promised to be with Jacob, God had promised to deliver Jacob, God had promised to not leave him nor forsake him. And now, all Jacob has left is that promise… and he’s fighting God about it. God has blessed him, but he still wants God to bless him. How much reassurance we need!! I hope God gives you the reassurance you require that he is good for his word, he does love you, he hasn’t forgotten you, and he will take you through to what he has promised.

Control is an illusion dear reader. None of us are nearly in control as we think we are. We are one breath of wind away from being completely knocked over. We live in a world that prides itself on being self made, and the “hustle”, and being independent and self sufficient. Well as a Christian, I’m dependent upon God for every second, I never don’t need his grace, but thank God I never am denied his grace “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

So you want to be in control? Maybe you think you’ve got things under your control at the moment… however “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.”

You know… Jacob was still trying to control the outcome himself, he sent out drove after drove of gifts and presents and offerings to Esau to try and “appease” him. He was still trying to manage the situation rather than truly trusting in God’s direction for his life. But none of that gave him peace like trusting God “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

When are we finally going to get victory? Trust God. Mindblowing stuff right. But that was his victory that night after a long, dark, restless night of great turbulence, trial, torment, and trouble… he finally trusted God. And God changed his name and his walk… he left that place… Peniel… a different man from that point on.

God wants to change us! And he will use real life events to do so. We might not see him in the day to day… but he’s there… and he’s doing a work far beyond our scope to understand and comprehend. I hope you are his child, because in his hands, he is a very good Father… he is the blessed heavenly Father who we can cast our care upon… because he cares for us.

Faith was the victory… not control. The angel of God said to Jacob “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” You want to prevail? The solution isn’t you. Life is beyond you, it is beyond me. Trust God! Trust what he has promised you. By faith. Hopefully this is a break through point for you in your life, as it is for me, as it was for Jacob.

This was God’s promise to Jacob all those years ago “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” What a promise to claim for our own lives! Let’s get in the Bible and claim God’s promises for ourselves, he is a personal God, he was personal to Jacob and this was a deeply personal moment in his life which we share in, so we can share in it too.

So you like to be in control? Well eventually you’ll come to a place beyond your control, so you can trust who is actually in control, the Lord of whom the scripture says “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” Things will get too big and impossible for you, as this was and Esau totally for Jacob… and yet “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

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