2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before.
3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you."
Genesis 31:2-3
This was a difficult point in the life of Jacob. He had founded his home in the land of his mother’s kin. And a large family had come to him in these shepherd days with Laban. He had amassed agricultural wealth in large herds. But that very blessing was becoming a source of friction between Jacob and his father-in-law. And Laban was not treating his son-in-law well as a result.
Yet, despite the difficulty, God had a bigger plan in mind for Jacob that involved getting him back to the land that God had promised Jacob’s father and grandfather. So the move must happen. And it is God’s will. It has been God’s will for generations already. Jacob is just caught in the urgent every day part of the experience of it.
There are times where God wants us to move on. There are promises to claim beyond our current experience. Sometimes personal pain or misery are indicators that we might want to listen to where God wants us. Jacob was not a strong example of faith, but in this instance, he was ready and willing to hear and obey the voice of the God on the matter. He may not have moved on in the best way (he snuck out rather than confront his father-in-law) but even in that God intervened (Laban was warned by God not to strike out against Jacob). Jacob obeyed. God blessed him. God received the glory and is clearly in charge of the situation. That is as it should be, even when we are faced with the tough decisions in moving on.
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