A time for everything

I learned a long time ago that everything has its right time, and that time and the goal both serve and wait on one another.
This reminded me of the story of Jacob's dream  (Genesis 28).
It took a long time before Jacob's dream was fulfilled. Despite the seemingly positive vision he'd received, Jacob's life quickly entered a downward spiral. He leaves the country, is separated from his family, flees from his brother, Esau, and fears for his future.

But we see Jacob reach terms with God. "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, the the Lord shall be my God (Gen.28:20-21).

In effect, jacob places conditions on God:"Do You have a will? Do You want to be my God? Do You want to give me an inheritance? Well, I also have desires and a will. If You fulfill everything, then I, too, will fulfill my part in our covenant."

And what does Jacob wants? His demands are fairly basic: safety, food, clothes and a warm home. With this stipulations, Jacob begins his journey.

It is amazing to see how flexible and willing God is to negociate. God fulfills His part completely. He guards Jacob and his family, He provides food for Jacob and sees to his clothing. And then He waited for Jacob to do his part.

Waiting and patience are important elements in getting the timing right. It is not enough to know one's mission or goal, you have to be ready to realize it.
Life, marriage, children, work- it all seemed to make Jacob forget his part of the contract.

Something reminds us who we are, where we came from, and where we're going. It makes us realize that there is something better for us than were we find ourselves in the present. The birth of Joseph, to his beloved Rachel, seemed to be the beginning of Jacob's awakening. Jacob realized that he was living in a foreign country, working for foreigners, raising his children in a land that was not his own.
He was far from the land of his fathers, for from his God, and far from himself.

Jacob realized that he had nothing to bequeath to his heirs living whre he was. Then remembered the contract he had made with God, and the moment had come for him to do his part. He turned to God, to his life's goals and understood his mission once more.


Anat Schneider (Israel Today)