Written by: Tim Rourke – Church Army

Genesis 31 v 43-44
Laban said to Jacob, “These girls are my daughters. Their children belong to me, and these flocks are mine. Everything you see here belongs to me, but I can do nothing to keep my daughters and their children. Let us make an agreement, and let us set up a pile of stones to remind us of it.”

Notes 
Families are complicated things. I say this as a husband, a younger brother, a son and a dad. All of these roles bring me great joy and great pain. Laban, the father of Jacob’s wives, had tricked Jacob over and over again, so Jacob took his wives (Laban's daughters) and left to go home.

I am a big fan of the Simpsons. It shows the complexities of modern family life really well - studious Lisa, Bart always up to his tricks and Homer and Marge always having fights and making up again. As a dad I try to be like Homer - he tries really hard, fails quite a lot but always comes back to support and love his family. It's not a bad way of living. Make a mistake, say “Doh” and carry on.

Even the Simpsons, with all their troubles, wouldn't get near the family in today's reading.

Laban and his son-in-law, his children and his grandchildren, all were feeling hurt and betrayed, cheated and bruised. It's like a Jerry Springer show: “My dad hates my husband and my husband hates him too.”

Yet at the end of today's reading they come before God to an agreement. Without the need for Oprah or Trisha, they agree to live in peace.

Ask God to help you work for peace in your life and the lives of those you struggle with.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, who lived among people who hated and rejected you and your message of love and peace, help us in all the relationships that cause us pain to seek your peace. Amen

Genesis 31 v 45-50
So Jacob took a large rock and set it up on its end. He told his relatives to gather rocks, so they took the rocks and piled them up; then they ate beside the pile. Laban named that place in his language A Pile to Remind Us, and Jacob gave the place the same name in Hebrew.
Laban said to Jacob, “This pile of rocks will remind us of the agreement between us.” That is why the place was called A Pile to Remind Us. It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, “Let the LORD watch over us while we are separated from each other. Remember that God is our witness even if no one else is around us. He will know if you harm my daughters or marry other women.”

Notes
When I was at school I had a deputy head called Mr. Wynn Jones. He was a fearsome Welshman who even the toughest kids were scared of. I was not one of the tough kids. I was happy staying out of trouble as much as I could. 

One day a few friends and I were playing football at lunchtime. Towards the end of lunch I decided to leave them and go to the music room for a while. While I was gone my mates decided to throw a brick through a glass door. I am not sure why; maybe it was fun at the time. That afternoon we were called in to see Mr. Wynn Jones.

As we entered his office I didn't know what was going on, but my mates were looking worried. The deputy head started by asking why had we thrown the brick. He was faced with a group of kids mumbling, “Dunno, sir” and me saying “I didn't.”

He stood up and walked over to me. “What?” he asked. “I didn't do it, sir,” I said, getting more angry at being wrongfully accused. He then turned a strange colour of red and stood over me shouting, “You were all seen together.”

Mr. Wynn Jones and his sources couldn't see everywhere or be everywhere. But Laban and Jacob knew that God would know if either of them backed down on their agreement. 

God knows us all - the good bits we happily show to others, and the bad bits we hardly even show to ourselves. Even though he knows us that much, he still loves us and wants us to know him.

Thank God for his love for you and say sorry to him for all you do that hurts him and others.

Prayer
Father God, who knows our deepest thoughts and needs, thank you for loving me. Thank you for being with me and never turning away. Thank you for all you are to me. Amen

Genesis 31 v 51-55
“Here is the pile of rocks that I have put between us and here is the rock I set up on end. This pile of rocks and this rock set on end will remind us of our agreement. I will never go past this pile to hurt you, and you must never come to my side of them to hurt me. Let the God of Abraham, who is the God of Nahor and the God of their fathers, punish either of us if we break this agreement.”
So Jacob made a promise in the name of the God whom his father Isaac worshipped. Then Jacob killed an animal and offered it as a sacrifice on the mountain, and he invited his relatives to share in the meal. After they finished eating, they spent the night on the mountain. Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them, and then he left to return home.

Notes
My eldest son got a Subbutteo set for his birthday. For those of you who don't know, Subbutteo was one of the best ways of playing football without getting tired before the invention of the Playstation. It is basically a board game where you have to flick little plastic footballers to play a game of football.

Recently my brother visited our house and we got the game out to play (like the big kids we are). However hard we looked, though, we could not find the rules, and we both remembered how complicated they were. So we had to sit down and agree how many flicks were allowed for throw-ins, corners and goal kicks.

From Subbutteo to international trade, from washing up to modern warfare, people who live and work together often need to agree how they are going to coexist.

Laban and Jacob had been living together through thick and thin (mostly thin) for twenty years. Their relationship had ranged from the good to the downright treacherous. In the end they agreed the rules so that they could carry on their lives in safety.

Who do you find it difficult to live alongside: colleagues, brothers, sisters, parents or children? Pray to God and ask his help in those situations.

Prayer point
As mentioned above, think about who you find it difficult to live alongside: colleagues, brothers, sisters, parents or children, Then ask God for his help in this.

Genesis 32 v 1-5
When Jacob also went his way, the angels of God met him. When he saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.
Jacob’s brother Esau was living in the area called Seir in the country of Edom. Jacob sent messengers to Esau, telling them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘This is what Jacob, your servant, says: I have lived with Laban and have remained there until now. I have cattle, donkeys, flocks and male and female servants. I send this message to you and ask you to accept us.’”

Notes
“Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

This prayer, a part of the Lord’s Prayer, is said every day by many Christians throughout the world.

Jacob was hoping that his brother might be in a forgiving mood. After all, many years before Jacob had cheated Esau, his brother, out of his inheritance. He had a real cheek hoping to find forgiveness.

Jacob was a real pain. He argued with everyone, cheated people and created problems wherever he went. He was the sort of person you would try to avoid. He could pick a fight in an empty room.

At school I was bullied. I remember one boy who would regularly ride past on his bike and spit at me. Another time a group of kids pushed me off of my bike as I was on my way home. On this occasion I remember God spoke clearly to me as I was riding away feeling upset. I remember knowing that God loved them as much as he loved me. This came as a shock. I was a Christian, Jesus was my friend. Why would he care for them like he cared for me? They didn't deserve it.

I know now that I was right. He cared and he still cares for them as much as he does for me. I don't know who or where they are, but I do know that God will never give up on them as he never gave up on Jacob or me. God's love knows no limits.

Think about someone you know who causes you pain. God loves them. Will you take a risk and show his love to them too?

Prayer
Lord, in the Bible you tell us to “pray for those who hurt you”. Lord, I pray for those who hurt me and ask that you will come and heal our relationships. Lord, in your mercy, hear my prayer.

Genesis 32 v 6-8
The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has 400 men with him.”
Then Jacob was very afraid and worried. He divided the people who were with him and all the flocks, herds and camels into two camps. Jacob thought, “Esau might come and destroy one camp, but the other camp can run away and be saved.”

Notes
Have you ever jumped off a fifty foot cliff? I nearly did once. I was on an outward bounds course one year and it was time for the abseiling day.

I had enjoyed caving and archery. I would even say that I excelled at orienteering. I am not built for speed, but I find reading a map very natural.

This particular day found me walking around the side of a huge cliff, every step taking me higher and higher and making me more and more petrified.

Eventually I got to the top. I looked at the instructor and the instructor looked at me. He asked us all to get our ropes and helmets. I held on tightly to a helpful looking tree. People were moving all around and I just stood there frozen with fear.

Jacob knew he could be in real trouble and he started to panic. He made plans that if Esau attacked, some of his people might escape.

Many people today live in fear in many different countries. How could we become more involved in removing the fear from those controlled by their fears?

Prayer point
As mentioned above, many people today live in fear in many different countries. How can you become involved in helping them? Ask God to show you what you might do.

Genesis 32 v 9-12
Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham! God of my father Isaac! LORD, you told me to return to my country and my family. You said that you would treat me well. I am not worthy of the kindness and continual goodness you have shown me. The first time I travelled across the Jordan River, I had only my walking stick, but now I own enough to have two camps. Please save me from my brother Esau. I am afraid he will come and kill all of us, even the mothers with the children. You said to me, ‘I will treat you well and will make your children as many as the sand of the seashore. There will be too many to count.’ ”

Notes
“Put your trust in God and keep your powder dry” - Oliver Cromwell.

“Trust in Allah, but first tie up your camel” - Ancient Arabic Proverb.

Yesterday we had the story of Jacob being frightened by what his brother might do to him, separating his belongings so that some of them might be saved.

Today we hear him coming to God in prayer. I don't know what you're thinking, but I can't help feeling that he had got his order a bit mixed up. Like the sayings at the top he prayed, but he had sorted the practicalities out first.

In my experience of Christians in the church, I meet far too many who make the same mistake. They put their planning and organisation over and above the power and activity of God. If I am honest I fall into this trap regularly too.

The problem is that we plan things so thoroughly in minute detail and then close our meetings with a little prayer asking God to bless our plans.

The early Christian missionaries in Britain, like Cuthbert, would not go on their missions until they had prayed for forty days. They would make sure that they fitted into God's plan.

What does God want you to do for him?

Prayer points
What things are you currently trying to work through in your life?
What little things do you feel are not worth bothering God about?
Today, pray the little prayers and listen to God’s response.
Act on what he says to you.

Genesis 32 v 13-16
Jacob stayed there for the night and prepared a gift for Esau from what he had with him: 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 rams, 30 female camels and their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. Jacob gave each separate flock of animals to one of his servants and said to them, “Go ahead of me and keep some space between each herd.” 

Notes
I enjoy reading fairy stories to my kids: Goldilocks; Cinderella; The Three Little Pigs; and of course today's reading, The Three Billy Goats Gruff. (Did you notice the similarities?)

Jacob sent his servants out ahead of him - lots of little jabs to wear Esau down so that he wouldn't be able to knock Jacob to the ground when they finally met.

Jacob knew that he was going to have to meet Esau one day, but maybe he could make it tomorrow, or maybe the next day or maybe...

I spoke before about my fear of abseiling when I was frozen to the spot at the top of a fifty foot cliff. I watched as one by one my friends left me, some of them confidently walking over the edge, some of them looking white as a sheet.

I waited and waited until there was only one person left to go: me! I knew this moment would come, and when it did I was absolutely terrified. My stomach tied itself in knots and my knees went to jelly.

If I'd only gone earlier when the chance had been there it would have been easier. Maybe if this had been a fairy story I could have flown down the cliff on the back of an elephant. (Dream on, Tim!) But it wasn't, and I didn't.

I turned around and walked down the side of the cliff feeling upset and deflated. A failure. At the bottom I met my ecstatic friends who were by this time getting ready to jump off an even bigger bridge.

Waiting can make problems grow and grow. If you know that God wants you to do something for him, why not do something about it now? Don't wait. You might miss the experience.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, who came, lived and died on this earth - who faced opposition and overcame difficulties - give me your strength to follow you and to become the person you would have me be. In Jesus’ name, Amen


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes