Who or what am I trusting?

 

READ Genesis 34-38

A few Christian friends get very upset with world events. Some are convinced that our free country will soon be ruled by dictatorship rather than democracy. I’ve talked to them about trusting God but my encouragement seems to fall on deaf ears.

Today’s reading speaks of God’s power to take care of His people. Actually, yesterday’s reading also did that. Jacob was afraid of encountering his twin brother Esau who had threatened to kill him. The encounter happened but not the attack. Esau was not a threat at all and Jacob learned that the power of God was sufficient to protect him from an angry sibling. Not only that, God protected him in an even greater way. These verses tell of his reaction to the surprising attitude change in his brother, but also what God can do concerning other enemies that might threaten His people:

And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. (Genesis 35:5–7)

God put terror in the hearts of potential enemies so they did not touch His people. Their safety was not a problem for Him. They could have travelled in fear, yet God was protecting them.

I’ve been thinking about this power and how the Lord displays it in several ways. Yesterday I had to drive my husband to an appointment because they were putting drops in his eyes that would prevent him from driving. Conditions were terrible. The streets had been plowed but the snow was piled on the edges or in the middle between lanes, as high as six feet and affecting visibility. The roads were icy and markings for lanes were hidden by the ice. It was overcast and lightly snowing, almost white-out conditions. Some drivers moved slowly; I was one of them. Others raced as if it was summer. We saw one car wrapped around a street light. This was no fun at all and I prayed. God’s protection kept me safe, safe from making any dangerous moves and safe from the other drivers.

Yet this sense of being safe is bigger than a wintery drive on icy streets. I’ve felt it all through the pandemic, during the trip we made south that included five flights and corresponding shuttle bus rides, plus driving incredible traffic in two cities, one freeway with eight lanes and bumper-to-bumper traffic in heavy rain. I feel safe in crowds, safe by myself. His protection has become very real.

God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram to Bethel and blessed him with these words:

“Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel. (Genesis 35:9–15)

Sometimes my fearful friends hear me praise the power and grace of God and respond with, “Yes, but . . . .” and I cringe. Someday I will study God’s use of that word ‘but’ yet I am certain it never erases any promise He makes to love and care for His people. Instead, He keeps all of them. What a difference to know that He hears and answers prayer, that He will deliver those we love and give them peace, that He will (and has) supplied all our need, and our eternal future is secure. This makes OBEDIENCE a delight rather than filled with doubt. God’s track record should always be my measurement. If my confidence depended on me, I’d have very little if any. That said, should I have doubts about God’s faithfulness, I need to examine who or what I am trusting!