[Discoveries] 03-25-08 Esau's face -- Genesis 33:10

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/*For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have 
received me favorably. -- Genesis 33:10*/

How is the face of Esau like the face of God?

For twenty years Jacob lived a fugitive. Sure, he was working. He was 
raising a family and building a career. But in the back of his mind was 
one nagging thought that wouldn't go away: Esau. Somewhere there was a 
man who wanted Jacob dead. With the passage of time, would he calm down 
and forget about it? Or would he show up in Jacob's tent some night in 
the middle of the night with a sword in his hand?

For years Jacob waited for the word that never came. His mother promised 
to send word when Esau calmed down. But Esau didn't calm down. Instead, 
with revenge on his heart, he built an army of 400 men.

Jacob lived as a fugitive.

And so do we sometimes.

On the day I originally wrote this devotional, I wrestled with 
temptations. Thoughts in my mind that I didn't want to be there, but I 
couldn't seem to drive them away. No matter what I did, the thoughts 
came back like a swarm of hungry mosquitoes. When it was time to write 
this devotional, I thought to myself, "How can I possibly do this? What 
do I have to offer anybody? Why am I writing these devotionals anyway? 
What made me think I could do this?"

Deep in my heart I felt that I was not a child of God "seated with 
Christ in heavenly places," but rather a sinner, on the run, a fugitive, 
hoping God wouldn't find me with His sword of exposure and disapproval.

I was running, but as so often happens I wasn't really looking where I 
was going and I ran into the arms of God. No, I don't suppose that I 
myself have much to share, but here from this place where God's arms are 
wrapped around me, I write to you and say that Esau's face was like the 
face of God. In the place of wrath, we found mercy and tears of 
reconciliation.

Be encouraged!
Dwight

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