6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, 8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” (Genesis 32)
Jacob was greatly afraid. This really had become a pattern in his life- fear of people who had seen him prosper. In one sense he had reason to fear: he had ripped his brother Esau off bigtime. We all know what bitterness can do in a person's life over time. He also knew he was blessed, which can cause jealousy to surface (think of rioters stealing things in hard times like this). But he also knew that God had promised to "do him good" and bless him beyond measure. The combination of the two drove him to his knees to talk with God, to cry out and wrestle with God in prayer. This was a lifechanging experience for Jacob. Facing our fears - of the unknown and the known - through greater reliance on God will develop our character, deepen our faith, and pull us through. May these uncertain times drive us to our knees as well.
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