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Between Me and Thee

Words of Faith Final

Between Me and Thee
Words of Faith 6-9-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 31
[36] Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. "What is my crime?" he asked Laban. "What sin have I committed that you hunt me down? [37] Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.
[38] "I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. [39] I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. [40] This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. [41] It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. [42] If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you."
[43] Laban answered Jacob, "The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? [44] Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us."
[45] So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. [46] He said to his relatives, "Gather some stones." So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. [47] Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.
[48] Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed. [49] It was also called Mizpah, because he said, "May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. [50] If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me."
[51] Laban also said to Jacob, "Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. [52] This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. [53] May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us."
So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. [54] He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
[55] Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.

Jacob finally said a lot of things that needed to be said. Life had been hard in Haran. Life with Laban as a father-in-law had been especially difficult, yet Jacob had never complained. He had faithfully kept his end of every bargain and agreement even though Laban had been a shifty dealer.
It was probably a brutal diatribe for Laban to listen to, but it was the truth. Jacob finally confronted Laban with at least part of the pain he had caused over the years. No one had ever had the boldness to speak to Laban in such a straightforward way. It was an opportunity to hear the truth.
When Laban responded, it almost seemed that reality was beginning to breakthrough. It was a moment of truth. I can't help but wonder if a tear did not finally come to his eye as he realized that he had driven his family away from him long ago. He called for a covenant between them, and stones were gathered to mark the place. Laban called the site a "heap of witness," but he added the Hebrew name Mizpah (meaning "watchtower"), entrusting God to watch over them.
Laban then gave stipulations that Jacob would not harm his daughters and that Jacob and Laban would stay apart. Somehow it had never sunk in that no one had ever protected or loved his daughter as much as Jacob had! In a statement of enormous hypocrisy, Laban-- the man who came running after his little gods-- called upon the name of the Lord God to keep a watch on Jacob.
Many will recognize the text in verse 49. "May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other." This phrase is often engraved on a pair of broken coins shared between two people who love each other and are separated for a time. Despite the original context, it is a beautiful prayer. But it was actually forged with animosity and mistrust!
This final parting must have been bittersweet. A sacrifice was made. A meal was shared, and a final night was spent together around tents. Then, Laban finally kissed and blessed his daughters and grandchildren before leaving for home. The blessing was now complete.
If only Laban had expressed such love years earlier, things might have been quite different. If only Laban had learned years before that, it is by blessing and loving that he would receive back great blessing and love.
Love cannot be demanded or commanded. Rather, as Jesus put it, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38).
Do you fit somewhere in this story?
If you are honest, perhaps you realize that you have been the dominant patriarch, or matriarch, who has demanded things be only your way. Have you driven those you love the most far away from you? It is not too late. Some will realize, albeit late in life, that they have been commanding, demanding, and manipulating to the point that it drives away those they love the most. You can still go and bless, love, and seek forgiveness.
Are you the son-in-law who has struggled under a domineering father-in-law to the point of misery? Or the daughter-in-law? Is it time for a forthright and honest conversation that honors age and position but not bad behavior? God will be with you.
Are you a daughter or a son who has never received love and blessing from a harsh, demanding father or mother? Some of us will never know the blessing that Laban finally gave, but is there a way to open the door? If not, there is a grace that helps put that desire behind us and look solely to our heavenly Father and know that He has loved us with an everlasting love and drawn us with loving-kindness (Jeremiah 31:3).
Perhaps you are none of these. If so, rejoice in the blessings of God. It is a day to be a blessing to others. You won't regret it.

Father God, thank You for Your blessing and love that is all-sufficient. Show me how to bless and love others. Heal the wounds of childhood. Mend the mistakes of youth. Fix the feelings that remain. Give the courage to care and the wisdom to bless. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.