israel – From The Overflow

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Why do bad things happen to good people?

It’s a tired question with no real answer. But one we all struggle with, to some extent. It feels inherently wrong for things to go sour in the lives of people who seem to deserve better. And frankly, we often believe we ARE those people. Especially in cases where we’ve turned a corner, learnt a lesson, made things right, or paid our dues.

The Highs

You may be familiar with the story in Genesis of Jacob wrestling with God. It takes place 20 years after Jacob fled from his brother as a fugitive. During those 20 years Jacob, manipulated his circumstances whenever possible for his own benefit. Jacob was a deceiver. That is the literal meaning of his name, Deceiver. He was selfish and self-seeking, and did all he could to ensure he ended up on top.

Well, on the eve of being reunited with his brother, Jacob is scared. He is no longer a lone wolf travelling on his own, but the husband of too many wives, the father to lots of children, and the entrepreneur of a thriving livestock business. Needless to say, he had a lot more to lose if things went south between him and his brother, Esau.

In fear of facing Esau in the morning, Jacob settles everyone for the night and he finds himself face to face with God instead. As a man who will win at any cost, Jacob is determined to win this wrestling match with this supernatural being, only to discover that losing to God can be a good thing!

His life is spared, He is given a new name, Israel, which means struggles with God, and he’s given a limp because God injured his hip socket. Jacob calls the place Peniel, which means face of God – for He saw the face of God, and lived.

For someone who was so fearful about facing his brother, Jacob was humbled and renewed by facing God instead, and was therefore able to face his brother, Esau, too.

It’s an incredible story. And I’m not doing it justice by paraphrasing it, so I encourage you to read it for yourself in Genesis 32. I don’t intend to keep us in suspense, so suffice it to say that the family reunion went off without a hitch.

Jacob and Esau greeted each other with brotherly love, tears of joy, and a warm embrace. They were both gracious, generous, and humble. A beautiful story of restoration, if there ever was one.

The Lows

Unfortunately, this isn’t where I wanted to land today. I wish it was. I wish we could always end on a high — leaping from one mountaintop to the next. But that’s not life. And sadly, many of us Christians think that it should be, simply because we follow Jesus.

Instead, we’re turning the page in Genesis. The next chapter is a horrific story within the sensitive topic of rape. So please consider this your disclaimer.

I had discovered the tragic story of Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, many years ago. But it was only recently that I realized its proximity to Jacob’s wrestling match and family reunion.

To me, this is extremely significant.

So, after things go well between Jacob and Esau, Jacob pitches his tent and sets up an altar, calling it, El Elohe Israel, meaning: Mighty is the God of Israel.

This seems like a no-brainer. It’s the kind of moment that warrants an altar or monument or tattoo with the phrase Mighty is the God of Israel. Heck, I’d slap that on my skin too if God did all that in my life!

Can you picture it? You have this incredible encounter with God. Perhaps you even have a specific, personal experience you can draw on here! A heavily spiritual moment that changed you and changed your relationship with God. Maybe you felt like a whole new person, with a whole new name and outlook on life. You finally KNEW God, not just knew about Him, and now riding the high of that mountaintop experience.

But it didn’t stop there. Maybe you then received the answer to a huge prayer. Perhaps a physical healing, or like Jacob, a restored relationship with a loved one that was previously fractured.

Unfortunately, as we read on, we discover that mountaintops are not immune to gravity, or to the gravity of hardship. Sometimes we tumble down, down, down.

For Jacob, the low came in the form of a man violating his daughter, Dinah. Genesis 34 is a standalone chapter in the story of Jacob where his daughter heads into town to make acquaintances with the women of their new home. Dinah is noticed by the son of the ruler of the area, and he rapes her.

In response, two of Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, acted on the philosophy that two wrongs do in fact make a right, and proceed to attack the unsuspecting city, killing every male.

The whole story is just one horrific event after another, and you can probably guess why Genesis 34 doesn’t usually make the cut for children’s Bibles.

Should I rise or should I fall, You were faithful through it all

What was hard for me to come to terms with in all this, is that after Jacob finally got his act together… After he finally quit depending on his own wits and scheming to get his way. After he finally knew God in a personal way, and not secondhand from his parents. After he finally submitted in humility to what God was doing in his life. After he came to a place of peace and restored relationship with Esau.

After all this… shouldn’t Jacob continue living in the Lord’s favour?
Hadn’t he learnt all the important life lessons and was ready to follow God in blessing?
Hadn’t he earned some time on the mountaintop?

Instead, tragedy befalls his family quicker than it took us to turn the tissue paper pages of his story. His vulnerable daughter is violated. And the vengeance taken by his two sons, brings even more harm to Jacob’s family as a result.

It’s just not the unfolding story any of us would ever hope for. But it’s life.

Here are some takeaways from this:

Choosing to follow God doesn’t mean endless mountaintop moments.
Choosing to follow God doesn’t mean we are shielded from the effects of a broken world
Choosing to follow God doesn’t mean our children are spared from hardship.
Choosing to follow God doesn’t mean our children will make the right choices either.

In the end, it really is about our choice. Do we choose God? Even in the lows?

He is always, ALWAYS faithful to us and chooses us. But each of us has to decide if He is worth it. It can be scary to acknowledge that the things we might fear will happen to us or our loved ones, very well may happen anyway.

I would have fully expected that Jacob’s life would have gone swimmingly after he finally encountered God in that wrestling match. Dinah’s tragedy proves this wasn’t the case for Jacob. But, He still chose God.

Do we still choose God in the highs AND in the lows?

What’s in the Ears

My favourite line of this song is: Should I rise or should I fall, You were faithful through it all. And He is. He really is faithful through all of it.

I don’t love the heaviness of this topic, but I wouldn’t be doing us any favours by pretending hardship is automatically lifted just because we follow Jesus. Do you have any thoughts on this? Please let me know in the comments or send me a message. And don’t forget to share with a friend!