THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #5 | JACOB: THE FATHER OF HOPE #2
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3686
THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #5
JACOB: THE FATHER OF HOPE #2
One of the most compelling aspects of the Bible is how God is constantly working through imperfect people to do unbelievable things. Being flawed ourselves, allows us to make a personal connection to the scriptures as we are in constant need of mercy and inspiration.
Jacob is our case study in point.
Like Jacob, when God wants to use us, He gives us a vision for our lives!
He helps us see how we can have an amazing impact!
“…for you have been chosen by God himself — you are priests of the King, you are holy and pure, you are God’s very own — all this so that you may show to others how God called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:9 TLB
We are uniquely chosen to show others how to go from darkness to light.
God shaped Jacob’s life in many ways and the areas he grew:
Career/Job – Delayed gratification (Genesis 29)
Marriage – Love (Genesis 29)
Family – Leadership (Genesis 29-30)
Setbacks – Perseverance (Genesis 29)
Success – Integrity (Genesis 30-31)
Relationships – Righteousness (Genesis 31)
Sin – Need for God (Genesis 32)
From a supplanter ( Jacob ) he was transformed into a man of God called Israel.
What spiritual lesson can we learn from his experiences today?
God has designed each of us from a special blueprint.
He thought about every aspect of who we were to become – our appearance, personality, interest, etc.
Every stage of our life was planned, every day prepared before we were even born.
God started to orchestrate Jacob’s life when his parents prayed for him.
Are you open to God’s purpose for your life?
God can use your strengths, your weaknesses, your quirks, your insecurities, your experience, and your past for a purpose.
Typically we want God to use our STRENGTHS and VICTORIES, not our WEAKNESSES and our PAIN.
He wants to use it ALL!
But we have to accept how God created us and who he is shaping us to become.
This is when it becomes evident that God shaping our life like a potter with clay.
Isaiah gives us a timely piece of advice in our submission into God's hands:
“But Lord, you are our father. We are like clay, and you are the potter; your hands made us all.
“But, my friend, I ask, “Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did?”
Isaiah 64:8 NCV
