Too Many Blessings
Pastor Doug Ranney
May 18, 2008
Genesis 28:10-28
Golfing great Arnold Palmer recalls a lesson about overconfidence: It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, "Congratulations." I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus. On my next two shots, I hit the ball into a sand trop, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters. You don’t forget a mistake like that; you just learn from it and become determined that you will never do that again.
The greatest spiritual discipline is to continually be focused on God, and His blessings may sometimes make it difficult. Hardships almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. Are blessing always "good things"? Did Jesus say we were blessed only when things where going our way?
In the beattitudes in Matthew five, Jesus says. 3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Does the world view poverty, mourning, persecution, and mistreatment as beneficial? NO! The world avoids such things. But Jesus teaches us that to the Christian they can be instruments of God’s work in our life. Jesus refers to these things not only as beneficial but as BLESSINGS.
A common misconception is that all hardship is a form of Divine discipline, and all "good things" are a result of Divine reward. THE EVENTS GOD DIRECTS IN OUR LIVES AREN’T ALWAYS ABOUT DISCIPLINE AND REWARD, PRIMARILY THEY ARE ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
A little history as you turn to Genesis 28: Abraham received 2 promises: He was going to be the father of many nations and I will give you this land. He struggles to do things God’s way. Finally, Abraham and Sarah have Isaac – the promised son. Isaac marries Rebekah and they have twins: Esau and Jacob. Esau is a man of the earth, a man’s man. He’s Daddy’s favorite, a sportsman, outdoorsman. But it turns out he fits the stereotype of the all around dumb-jock. Jacob is a completely different. He’s Mom’s favorite. He hangs out around the kitchen and is always a trickster. He was born grabbing the heel – in fact, that’s his name – the one who grabs the heel, who ‘hamstrings’ people. As this account begins… Jacob is alone. Notice no one is with him. Where is his family? Where are the servants? Where are the donkeys? He’s alone. He’s got very little with him.
In our text today we find Jacob on the run from Esau, because under his mothers advice he tricked his elderly father Isaac and stole Esau’s blessing. Up until this point in Jacob’s life everything went good, he enjoyed the comfort of living under his mother’s watchful eyes and his father’s patriarchal blessings. Before Jacob left home what did he know of God? Simply what he had learned form his parents. But due to the blessings he had little reason to exercise any faith in the God of his parents.
JACOB WAS TOO BLESSED TO SEE GOD.
But now things are drastically changing in the life of Jacob. Now he becomes a fugitive, his mother is nowhere in sight to give him advice. He is far away from the securities of home and family. Gen 28:11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. Jacob had traveled about 70 mi. of its 450 mi. journey to Haran. He needs to rest for the evening and so he set up camp in a "certain place." This place is not especially noteworthy, it does might even have a name. It is not known as a place for Divine visitations. There’s nothing particularly holy about this place. It is just a place of dirt and stones, so Jacob has no reason to expect anything unusual. This is a place of hardship were he exchanges the soft comfortable pillows he had always known for a ROCK. A pillow is a cushion for the head used to rest on, but in this CERTAIN PLACE there wasn’t any comfort available.
How many have seen pictures of a huge eagle’s nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff? How many have ever seen inside an eagles nest? When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That’s when the mother eagle begins "stirring up the nest." With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior.
Comfort is not the avenue to maturity. God had to get Jacob out from under his mother’s care before he would learn to rely on God, out of the range of her voice before he could hear God, and stripped from all his worldly comforts before he would look to God.
2. DESPERATION CAN CAUSE OUR EYES TO SEE THINGS THEY’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
Gen 28:12He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
When Jacob was in the comforts of his home how many visions did God give him? How many times did he hear the voice of God speaking words of comfort making personal promises? Look at what God offers Jacob in verse 15: - Companionship - I AM WITH YOU - Safety - I WILL WATCH OVER YOU WEREEVER YOU GO - Guidance - I WILL BRING YOU BACK - Personal guarantee - I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU UNTIL I HAVE DONE WHAT I HAVE PROMISED YOU
Gen 28:16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." Jacob wasn’t expecting to see God in this CERTAIN PLACE of hardship. Now that the blessings are stripped away Jacob can see God. God was always there for Jacob but now for the first time in his life he realizes it. God sometimes shows up at unexpected times and unexpected places. It may be in the shower, during the drive to work, or when you’re cooking dinner. God is not limited to showing up at so-called spiritual places, such as the church building.
Gen 28:17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven." Now that Jacob realizes God is in this CERTAIN PLACE it becomes an awesome place. Maybe the place you are at right now spiritually is a CERTAIN PLACE. Maybe your circumstances are getting the best of you and you want to move to an awesome place with God. Did God make Jacob’s circumstances better before he realized God was with him? No! If anything they got worse, God is not in the business of changing our circumstances He’s in the business of changing US. What changed about Jacob was his perspective, he went from encountering hardship to encountering God.
Gen 28:18-19 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. The ROCK PILLOW that was a symbol of hardship becomes a symbol of worship. Jacob’s eyes that were blinded by blessings are now opened by oppression. This is the first of many struggles in the life of Jacob that will all serve to strengthen his faith.
Human beings grow by striving, working, stretching; human nature needs problems more than solutions. Why are not all prayers answered magically and instantly? Why must every convert travel the same tedious path of spiritual discipline? Because persistent prayer, and fasting, and study, and meditation are designed primarily for our sakes, not for God’s. The philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard said, that Christians reminded him of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than work them through...We yearn for shortcuts. But shortcuts usually lead away from growth, not toward it.
Gen 28:20-22 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God 22and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." Jacob’s methods had made him a fugitive, but now the fugitive who was running from his problems becomes a pilgrim journeying with God. The journey with God for Jacob began when his comforts (blessings) were taken away. Is your perception of God’s blessings: Good health, sufficient money, good family relations, etc. Is it only what the world considers "GOOD THINGS"? Are you willing only to receive good from God and not bad? Do you believe bad things only happen to bad people? If so you may be TOO BLESSED TO SEE GOD. The GOOD THINGS in your life were not obtained by your power "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:18. And all those GOOD THINGS God has given you He can take away if He so desires.
One of the most popular aquarium fish is the shark. If you catch a small shark and confine it, it will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium. Sharks can be six inches long yet fully matured. But if you turn them loose in the ocean, they grow to their normal length of eight feet. That also happens to some Christians. I’ve seen some of the cutest little six-inch Christians who swim around in a little puddle. But if you put them into a larger arena--into the whole creation--only then can they become great.
Do you want to grow in your faith, do you want to hear God, and do you want to see spiritual things like you’ve never seen before? If so your first step is to recognize that God is actively involved in every aspect of your life. His goal is for your faith and relationship with Him to grow. But if think you can grow in a small comfortable aquarium without any hardships you are sadly mistaken. There are no short cuts to spiritual maturity, God must stretch your faith and get you away from your worldly comforts so you can see Him.
We must have our perception of "blessings" changed from WORLDLY THINGS to SPIRITUAL THINGS. The greatest blessing of all is salvation and so many wonderful things that go along with it. Forgiveness of sins, the protection, and guidance of God, peace with God, and guarantee that He will never leave us nor forsake us. How did Jacob respond when he is made aware of God’s presence? “Surely God is in this place.”
How would your perspective change if you were to suddenly realize that God is ‘in the house?’ How differently would you conduct business with God sitting at the desk with you? How differently would you speak to your spouse if Jesus sat at your dinner table? How different would your dating be if you were to suddenly become aware that God is also on that date with you?
He is struck by awe of God’s presence. Awe can be a powerful moment of change in our lives. Awe reveals to us that we are not the shiniest thing in God’s creation – nor are we even in the same league. Albert Einstein once said, “He who can no longer pause to wonder, is as good as dead.” Awe has a power to remind us of our own place in the grand order of things. Suddenly, all our accomplishments, all our talents, all our shiny medals, all our adoring fans no longer have the same sway on us they once had. Being struck by the awesomeness of God reorders our priorities. Being struck by the awesomeness of God reopens our hearts. Being struck by the awesomeness of God recommits our souls
This is a Spiritual Awakening taking place
For too long Jacob has been running on auto-pilot – taking the family’s wealth and comfort for granted. He’s just assumed that everything is going to work out. Or, perhaps even more telling, he’s assumed that if anything is going to happen, its going to be up to him to make it happen. So he’s taken the family future into his own hands. Now, entirely alone, on the road running from his mistakes and from his family, Jacob encounters God. And God has to speak to him in a dream in order to wake him up.
And maybe God is working the same thing in your life as well. For too long you’ve walked around, done your thing with no attention to God’s presence or power in your life. You’ve worked hard and played harder, the entire time ignoring the gentle, constant love of God calling you back to him. Perhaps you’re walking through a time of lonely travel, where the only comfort you can find is a rock for a pillow. And as you try to find some rest, God is interrupting your dreams to make Himself known. Maybe God is trying to wake you up as well. Are you experiencing an awakening?
From Sleepwalking in church to Walking in Faith
Maybe you’ve been in church for the better part of your life, but its never really made all that much of a difference. You’ve heard the sermons on the flood, helped teach children about Jonah and you know all about King David and his slingshot. But if the truth were told, you are still spiritually asleep. You have no real personal contact with Jesus. You’ve never really stepped into the presence of God. You’ve had no experience with the awesome presence of God. And as you sit here this morning, God is trying to wake you up from your zombie state into something far greater than anything you’ve ever hoped or imagined.
In our story of Jacob, he does something. He took the stone, "and put them for pillows." Not everyone can do this. The opportunity, the potential, is available to everyone. But not everyone can do this because the way we view the stones will determine how we use them. Stones can be used as missiles to hurl at others in what is well known as "the blame game." Stones can be used as ballast to weigh one down to sink beneath the waters of self-pity and failure. However, stones can be used to create a strong foundation to support a new building. Or, stones may become part of the actual building. Stones can never be converted into a downy-soft featherbed. Life is never that easy. But they may become a pillow for a weary mind and body. And stones can be used to build an altar to God, given to him as a symbol of worship. Are you in that place? Are you blinded by the blessings in your life so much that you cannot see God? Or do you see God in all of your circumstances and use them to worship Him?