Don’t Miss the Moment

God’s Preparation for Moving Forward!

“In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maid servants and men servants, and camels and donkeys.” – Genesis 30:43

Jacob left his homeland after suffering a broken relationship with Esau for stealing the family blessing. He went to work for his uncle Laban where he stayed for 20 years.

It came time for him to leave, but he had no physical assets to show for those years under Laban.
Laban had taken advantage of his nephew in every way. (In some ways, Jacob was reaping the seed he had sown his entire life as a manipulator and controller.)
Discouragement is one of the enemy’s weapons … “Anything in your heart that is bigger than the Lord is an idol.” …

* Nevertheless, God’s hand was on Jacob, and He had plans to prosper him. However, Jacob had one problem – he had no resources of his own.
For Jacob to launch out on his own, he would need resources.
In those days, resources often meant large flocks of animals.
* God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a strategy for creating wealth by multiplying his sheep.

*This Encounter with God made him realize that GOD was IN this place, even though he had not been aware of it.

*God had to remove Jacob from ALL that was of Comfort to him in order to reveal Himself to Jacob.

*What began as a crisis that forced him to be removed from his family and friends led to an Encounter with the living God and a fresh vision of God’s purposes for his life.
…”Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” – Genesis 28:16

Even though Laban sought to thwart Jacob’s efforts, God overcame the evil in Laban to allow Jacob to prosper.

There are many important lessons for us in this story.
*When God decides it is time to move you into a larger place of His calling, He has the ability to provide the resources you need to support the call.
* God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a strategy never used before to build wealth.
It was totally from God’s hand.
* It was creative and new.
* God called Jacob to move out after he had demonstrated his faithfulness in 20 years of serving Laban.
* He learned to live under authority and served Laban faithfully, even though he knew he was being taken advantage of.

God will do the same for you and me. However, a word of caution:
*** Be sure the strategy is born from above, and not from self-effort.
****The difficulty for most of us  believers is to learn the difference between the strategies born of God versus the strategy of self-effort.

Hebrew 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

If you’re not what God wants you to be, ask yourself what’s in front of you.
*We will gravitate towards whatever is front of us.
* What you put before you will eventually be your end result.
* This also drives home the power of a vision. By putting a vision/visual before the flock they produced according to the vision/visual rather than acquiesce to their current state of affairs.
* You can have a spotted, speckled, or dark past and STILL produce a bright, vibrant, and strong future.
*** Put the appropriate things in front of you and strive to hit the new mark.

Be encouraged and learn to live in the moment, for as you learn the art of living in the moment and seeking the Lord’s face,  that moment will become a treasure to you rather than a judgment. * It will become a blessing to you rather than a curse to you.
The Lord is  seeking those who are His, and they must be found seeking His kingdom first.
If we do not learn to live in the moment, the signs that the Lord provides, the instruction that He desires to impart to you, and the blessing of that moment will all pass you by and the opportunity will be gone.
So, become spiritually awake to such an extent that you are living in present reality. Make sure in this season that you take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.

Father, you are the one that prospers man. It is not through our own doing. Because of this, I pray to keep my focus on you and not on the things of this world. Amen