February 1, 2012
Well, we're back in Genesis this week, at the beginning of Genesis 32. Here we see Jacob packing up and moving back home. But on the way he gets the news that Esau is waiting to meet him ... and Esau has 400 friendly warriors with him. Woodrow Kroll ("Back to the Bible") writes about this chapter, "You know, I think meeting Esau again was probably one of the hardest things Jacob did in his life. He was the brother Jacob had deceived and cheated and angered. And he ran from fear that Esau would kill him. "
Fear is a huge emotion that all of us experience. Sometimes fear is helpful -- fear is a good thing if you're about to step off a cliff. But sometimes fear is unhelpful -- fear can be a bad thing if you're afraid of something (or someone) you shouldn't be scared of. Sometimes we respond to fear wisely -- and sometimes unwisely. We're called to carefully consider what we should be doing because fear can keep us from doing what God wants. And fear can cause us to do something that God doesn't want. And believe it or not, God is able to use both kinds of fear to bring about His purposes.
So once again God has a lesson for us in all of this -- that is, since there's often this tension between fear and faith, how do we end up on the faith side of the equation? Come Sunday to find out more. See you then. Pastor Dave
