Bibledoorajar Looks at Victory over Stress and Distress

Sometimes the night was beautiful
Sometimes the sky was so far away
Sometimes it seemed to steep so close
You could touch it but your heart would break
Sometimes the morning came too soon
Sometimes the day could be so hot
There was so worth much left to do
But so much you'd already done

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise you
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise you
And I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days.
                                       Rich Mullins


Jacob has faced Esau and found him to be gracious. There may be much more that God was to do in his life, but Jacob was much closer to truly believing--truly believing that he had a special relationship with God. After the two brothers had wept tears of reconciliation, Jacob went to meet Rachel, his beloved, to tell her they were safe and well received by Esau. They may have all been convinced that God could not help them as they faced Esau, but they had now found out how untrue that thought was. Feeling safe, Jacob shares the treasure of his family with Esau.The stress and distress lightened.  After this wonderful meeting, Esau returned to his home in Seir which surprisingly means "hairy" (God allowed Esau to grasp this land from a Hovite named Seir). But Jacob does not go to the place which God had told him. Instead of going on to Canaan Jacob camped at Shechem. This campsite was to be a stopping place on the way to Canaan but Jacob decided to dwell there. Abram sojourned there on his way, but Jacob decided to live there and bought land from the father of a young man named Shechem. It was a mistake that would have serious consequences for Jacob and his family. But there is at least a redeeming feature of the stop. Jacob built an altar there to God. He named it El-Elohe-Israel. El means God and Elohe means God so Jacob was making a declaration that God was the God of Jacob. That was personal progress and a declaration as stated in the song above--"I will follow You all of my days." Today, I declare God as El-Elohe-Rebecca and declare "I will follow Him all of my days". How about you?