Crisis! A Wake-up Call to Change

Trouble comes our way often by our own invitation. It’s not that we intend to behave in ways that invite trouble, but we passively or directly engage in behaviors that invite negative consequences. Those consequences are wake-up calls to make changes in our attitudes and actions. Jacob got a wake-up call on the road to Haran.

In dreams he saw a ladder or stairway extending from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. Can you visualize this picture? It gets better. Above the stairway stood the Lord God speaking to him directly. He told Jacob, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your grandfather and Isaac your father."

Prior to this life-changing dream, Jacob’s life was defined as self-directed and self-centered; he was a cheater and a fraud. In his dream God promised him a new beginning, not because he deserved it but because God saw potential where no one else could. He promised Jacob a future with hope. Is this what you need? God will give it to you.  

Crisis! Redemption or Stagnation?

Jacob, the youngest son of Rebekah and Isaac spent decades honing his skills in manipulating, deceiving, and being a fraud. Jacob needed redemption but was reluctant to accept it. He would have to experience severe crises to make the transition. Genesis 28 presents his first major crisis. With his mother’s help, he stole his brother’s blessing.

 

To escape Esau’s plan to kill him, Jacob’s mother sent him to Haran to live with her brother. On the way he stopped for the night, lay down to sleep and had a dream that proved to be the beginning of his redemption. It was his first personal encounter with the Lord God. A severe crisis can weaken a person’s resistance to God’s intervention.

 

The issue is that God intervenes even when we’re undeserving and have severely messed up our lives. As Jacob slept, he dreamed God spoke a message of reassurance and hope to him, a chance for a new beginning with a clear conscience. God gave him the opportunity to build a bridge to a different lifestyle, and he will do that for you.

Looking Back, Moving Forward - Part 2

Memories have the capacity for being a blessing that provides contentment and joy. However, memories can be obstructions to our feelings of well-being and may contribute to a life-style of underachievement. We consistently come to crossroads where our choices remain permanently marked in our memories.

The Old Testament patriarch Jacob had left home as a young man under duress after he and his mother had conspired against his brother Esau to steal their father's blessing. While sleeping on a lonely dark road, he had dreamed about a ladder extending from earth up to heaven. There God had spoken to him and made a covenant to give him and his descendants the land where he was sleeping.

The memory of deceitfully conspiring against his brother would continually haunt him, but now he had the memory of that dream and a commitment to honor God with his life. As sinful as Jacob and his mother had been, God favored him. God sees beyond the moment to a future time when a person will change, mature, and live up to his or her potential. Jesus saw this in the apostle Paul.