“I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.” Genesis 32:10

Life is often filled with uncertainty and potential danger and when it feels like that it can be hard to move forward even if we have faith in God. That’s how it was for Jacob. Here’s the context for the verse above: 20 years earlier Jacob had fled from his home out of fear of his brother, Esau, who was angry with him because Jacob had deceived their father and stolen Esau’s blessing. He had nothing when he fled, but now he has a large family and many possessions.

God tells Jacob to return to the land he had come from and Jacob obeys Then as he nears his homeland, he learns that Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men and he’s justifiably afraid. “Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’” (Genesis 32:9-12)

Jacob resolves to continue despite his fear. In his 20-year exile Jacob had learned that trusting God was paramount and obedience to His commands needed to take precedence even over his legitimate fear. Jacob trusted and obeyed, and God took care of him.

Are you willing to trust God despite challenging circumstances?