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Sovereignty Does Us Well

Genesis 32 records Jacob's journey back to Canaan after serving his father-in-law for twenty years (Gen. 31:38). His brother, Esau, is on his way to meet Jacob, which freaks Jacob out because they did not part on the best of terms (Gen. 27: 41-28:5), and Jacob does what godly men do: he prays and reminds God of his promises. During his prayer in Genesis 32 he reminds God of this command and promise "Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you" (ver. 9) and again in verse 12 he reminds God of His statement "I will surely treat you well." 
This struck me because the rest of Jacob's life does not go what I would call "well". Sure, Esau doesn't kill him, but in the chapters that follow his daughter is raped and his sons slaughter a town, Rachel dies, Isaac dies, Joseph is sold into slavery, Judah strays from his family and from God and God kills his sons because of their wickedness, there's a famine and when Jacob's sons return from getting food in Egypt they don't have Simeon with them because he's been imprisoned, and then Jacob's remaining 9 sons want to take Benjamin back to Egypt because that's the only way they can ever purchase food or see Simeon again. 

Where was God's promise of treating Jacob well? 

On the podcast, Things Unseen, Sinclair B. Ferguson points out that God had to take Jacob's favourite sons away from him in order to kill the sin of favouritism in Jacob. 


If knowing God is our greatest good then sin is our greatest enemy, and any idol that we set up between us and God needs to be destroyed. It is well for us that God destroys our idols. The process is painful, and it often takes a long time. God is so patient and He loves us so much that He does not blast us with the full extent of our sin all at once, He sin removal surgery take time. 

"Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?" Hebrews 12:9 NKJV. The ESV and NASB use the word disciplined instead of corrected. 

The hard parts, the sad parts, the parts of life that we do not like are the parts where God is treating us well. God is good and He does good (Psalm 119:68) and we have to believe that otherwise we would drown in the difficult places within our own stories. The puritans preached the truth that God is not cruel, He will not allows you to suffer a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. 

What I'm Reading 

    • The Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter by Lawana Blackwell. This is book 2 in a series that I stole from my sister-in-law (but she just had a baby so she won't miss them). These books are clean, pretty predictable, and not particularly fast paced so they're perfect for before bed. 
    • A History of Britain in 21 Women by Jenni Murray. This one is written from a liberal point of view, but it's been interesting how many times Murray notes that the women who were successful were most often supported by their fathers or husbands or both. 
    • The Life and Diary of Andrew Bonar by Marjory Bonar 

What I'm Enjoying 

    • Arlo the betta fish died after a long life (I think I had him for about 5 years) and I've graduated from betta's to guppies, mollies, and a clown loach.
    • My AC unit 
    • I purchased an air fryer with gift cards from my piano students this summer and it's been great. I think using it helps keep my apartment cooler and the food comes out so nice. 
    • Erasable pens. Here's the link. 
    • Having people over. The last couple months I've fallen off the hospitality wagon but I've begun again and it's been a huge blessing. 

"The first thing women must learn is to dress like ladies and act like gentlemen." Elizabeth Garret Anderson (one of the first licensed female doctors in Britain, 1836-1917)

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