Genesis 29
This chapter brings up many emotions. It’s like you’re watching a bad rom com: the guy sees the girl, falls in love, and has to work for SEVEN years to win her hand. Then comes the morning after the wedding night, and believe it or not, the wrong woman is in his bed. I mean come on! How can this happen to Jacob?! He found the girl of his dreams, How dare Laban trick him.
But let us not forget that Jacob got to where he was through deception. As Warren Weiserbe writes in his commentary, “The man who deceived his father was deceived by his father in law, and the man who passed himself off as the firstborn son now receives the firstborn daughter to be his wife. It’s an inescapable law of life that we will eventually reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7-8). God in His grace forgives our sins when we confess them (1 John 1:9), but God in His government allows us to suffer the painful consequences of those sins.”
God is our Father, He cares deeply about us, and He is always actively present and working in our lives even in the midst of mistakes and sin. However, He is also a holy and righteous judge, meaning that the things we do have consequences. Because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we are free from sin, no longer are we bound by it’s chains, and through repentance we are renewed day by day. However, when our sin goes unconfessed and stays hidden in our hearts, we continue to reap death instead of life.
Confessing sin is scary, but would we remember that it’s God’s kindness that leads us toward repentance and that “He does not deal with us according to our sins, or repay us according to our iniquities. As far as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love to those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:10-11). He disciplines us for our good, and we can trust that the freedom on the other side of repentance will bring life.
Is there any unconfessed sin in your life that needs to be brought to the light?
As you process this ask God for the boldness to share this with your huddle leader or a close friend.
