A Tale of Two Sisters Genesis 29:1-30

-God disciplines His children to transform them.

Coleridge is the supreme example of tragedy of indiscipline. Never did so great a mind produce so little. He left Cambridge University to join the army; he left the army because he could not rub down a horse; he returned to Oxford and left without a degree. He began a paper called "The Watchman" which lived for ten numbers and then died. It has been said of him, "he lost himself in visions of work to be done, that always remained to be done. Coleridge had every poetic gift but one--the gift of sustained and concentrated effort." In his head and in his mind he had all kinds of books, as he said, "completed save for transcription." But the books were never composed outside of Coleridge's mind, because he would not face the discipline of sitting down to write them out. No one ever reached any eminence, and no one having reached it ever maintained it, without discipline.

I. The Lord’s Discipline is an Act of Grace vv. 1-14

Last time we were together, we saw an incredible moment of grace in Jacob’s life

Leaving home in search of his kinsmen in Haran, Jacob meets the Lord and commits his life to serving God.

He goes, knowing that the Lord is going to be with Him; all of this will be true, but it is still a time of exile, away from his family. Two things take place:

First, it is going to give his family some space and time to experience healing and to prepare to forgive him

Second, it gives Jacob a time for his own character to be refined

In spite of the discipline we see take place, this is still a season of blessing, directed by God:

God grants him safety

God brings him to the right place

God brings him to the exact right person: He went seeking a wife in Paddan-Aram and he finds the daughter of his kinsman Laban at the well!

Immediately, we see some of God’s transforming work taking place:

While the other shepherds avoid the responsibility, Jacob will do the work of uncovering the well

Much like his mother before him, this is some of the best of Jacob

He takes on the responsibility of watering the sheep for Rachel

Likewise, when he is greeted by Laban, he is welcomed into the home as an honored guest, instead of being pushed away from home as a deceiver

Jacob is beginning to gain a new reputation and is beginning a new way of life!

It is critical that we understand God’s intent as He disciplines us

It is not an act of cruelty to discipline us, it is an act of care

It is precisely because He does love us and desires better for us that He does discipline us

We must remember this when we face His discipline!

Hebrews 12:5–8

[5] And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

nor be weary when reproved by him.

[6] For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and chastises every son whom he receives.”

[7] It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? [8] If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (ESV)

As my children go through the ups and downs of playing sports, they often get frustrated when a coach is hard on them, but I try to reassure them that this always means the coach is paying attention! You shouldn’t be concerned when a coach is hard on you, but when a coach stops caring!

II. The Lord’s Discipline Takes Time vv. 15-20

As we continue our look at the passage, we see that Jacob has a problem:

He has come empty-handed, so he has no means to provide for himself

It would be impossible for him to stay without also working

Unfortunately, he is a kinsman, so it would be shameful for him to live in the house as a servant

Jacob has a solution, he will work for the hand of Rachel, Laban’s daughter

This is an ingenious idea, it solves two problems:

It will remove any embarrassment over his living arrangements

It will open the door for him to have Rachel, who he loves, as a wife

However, it is also a serious step

The terms are 7 years

He will have to wait patiently for his hope to be fulfilled

Why does this have to take so long (and even longer than Jacob expected!)

The time is a necessity for genuine change to take place

The goal of this season is transformation and that always takes time

We see two complementary truths here:

There is a moment of peace with God that we saw last week where Jacob is invited into relationship with Him

However, the process of transformation into the man that God intends for Jacob to be will be extensive

The spiritual transformation that comes through discipline is an invitation to patient endurance

750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers 482: Patience

A common sight in America’s Southwest desert is the century plant. It’s unique. The century plant (Agave Americana) thrives in rocky, mountainous, desert sites. It has dramatic, splayed leaves that grow up to a foot wide. The plant can reach twelve feet in diameter.

But what makes the century plant unusual, as its name suggests, is its long reproduction cycle. For twenty or thirty years (no, not a literal one hundred years), the six-foot-tall plant stands the same height and puts out no flowers. Then one year, without warning, a new bud sprouts. The bud, which resembles a tree-trunk-size asparagus spear, shoots into the sky at a fantastic rate of seven inches per day and reaches an eventual height of twenty to forty feet. Then it crowns itself with several clumps of yellowish blossoms that last up to three weeks.

Like the century plant, many of the most glorious things that happen to us come only after a long wait.

Romans 5:1–5

[1] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (ESV)

III. The Lord’s Discipline is Wise vv. 21-30

As Jacob’s time of waiting draws to a conclusion, a shocking thing happens:

He has experienced grace from God and been brought to a place of hope

He has experienced some real transformation and God’s promises are being fulfilled in his life

Now, he gets a taste of his own medicine!

The deceiver is deceived

Instead of wedding the beautiful Rachel that he loved, Jacob awoke the morning after to find that he was united with her less lovely sister Leah

Laban justifies his action as consistent with the customs of the country and offers Rachel to Jacob as a second wife; he can have her as wife, but he must serve for another seven years

When we consider discipline, we must understand that it is the wisdom of God

He disciplines Jacob in a way that is “in kind”- it is an expression of the kind of sin he had committed against others

He disciplines Jacob in a way that is timely- Jacob is at a point in his life where he can truly understand what it is to be wronged and to have been wronged and to learn the lesson

He disciplines Jacob in a way that is proportional- Jacob’s life is complicated by Laban’s actions, but he will not miss out on any of the Lord’s blessings towards him

When we face the Lord’s discipline, we face it with an understanding that He knows what it will take to transform us into the man or woman He intends for us to be!

A boy’s toy boat went out of reach on a pond one day and started floating away. A man at the side of the pond started throwing rocks at the boat and the boy became horrified at what might happen. But then he realized that the rocks were going over the boat and making ripples that finally pushed the boat back to shore and into the boy’s hands. Many times, when we stray away from God, it appears that he is throwing rocks at us. But He is really using the ripples to bring us back home.24 Jacob thought God was throwing rocks at him, but in reality God was only throwing rocks around him in order to make some ripples that would bring his family back together.

This is the kind of thing that a Father who loves His children does!