tired of lies

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.

Genesis 31:42

How do you turn a con man into a man of integrity? God did it to Jacob by putting him into the ultimate twenty year con game. In the end Jacob was weary of being lied to and manipulated. After deceiving his own father to con Esau out of the birthright and blessing of his father Isaac, Jacob went to his uncle Laban and there he was worked over by the lies and deception, changes and smooth manipulation of Laban. Jacob, who was himself a charming, smooth-operating schemer would be outschemed by his conniving used-camel-salesman uncle. Jacob grew sick of the lies, deception, and chess move strategies that had become his life.

When Jacob arrived in Laban’s household he had nothing but the clothes on his back. He was young, single, homeless, and penniless. Laban welcomed him, took him in, fed him and offered him a job as the supervisor over all his herdsmen. Jacob’s only wage request: “Let me marry your daughter Rachel.” They agreed to a seven year contract only for Laban to pull a switch-a-roo and substitute the less desirable Leah to Jacob who was too drunk to know who was in his wedding night bed.

When Jacob complained, Laban negotiated another slick deal in his favor, so Rachel would become Jacob’s second wife in exchange for seven more year’s work. Jacob then stayed on after that for six more years in a livestock breeding contract with Laban so that he could earn the means to care for his now large and hungry family that had grown to twelve sons, several daughters, four wives, servants, and all the things needed to manage this lifestyle. 

When Jacob finally forcefully left employment under his manipulative uncle, he chose to reverse con the old con man. He fled secretly. He left a cover story to buy time. He was warned by God that it was time to go back to Canaan. But he was so weary of the lies and the deception. Even though he was finally getting some direction from God, he was still willing to deceive to leave. And it didn’t work out wonderfully. It was clunky. Sin gummed it up even as God wanted Jacob to just trust in Him.

God wants to show Himself when we will turn from our manipulative efforts at controlling our lives. He wants us to trust Him. That is what faith in Jesus is. It isn’t about us moving things around, using people, working markets, making a living to get what we want. It is about trusting only what God has done for us so that He can change us. We must give up on our own strength and effort and trust Jesus.