SIT in Your Situation

SIT in Your Situation

Genesis 31:38–42 NIV

“I have been with you for twenty years now… I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household.

I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed…” Genesis 31:38-42

Hayah (haw-yaw) translated as “situation” in the NIV, means “Fall Out”—the set of circumstances in which he found himself.

Fall out—wasn’t planned. You didn’t intend for things to happen that way.

Fall out—Stuff Happens

Fall out—We woke up a year ago, turned on the world news and discovered there was a Corona Virus…and here we are today still dealing with a situation—our new normal.

Today, I invite you to consider how Jacob dealt with the Fall Out of his banishment from his home and family.

Jacob learned to SIT in his Situation.

Self-Surrender

Surrender = To Submit to the authority of another. Surrender is acknowledging that you have limited power over a person or a situation.

Surrender does not mean giving up.

The “fear of Isaac” and his love for Rachel motivated him to surrender to the authority of Laban. Sure he could have moved on, but Jacob loved Rachel and so surrendered himself—his wellbeing, his personal considerations—to marry her.

The true measure of Christian service is the ability to serve the cause of Christ above self.

I recommend that we surrender ourselves in any given situation by putting on three different caps (Jim Kwik) to properly cope with our situations.

The 3 Caps of Self-Surrender

The Black Cap is Logical Thinking.

To wear the black hat as the critic, imagine the judge in a black robe.

When you wear the Black Cap, ask yourself: what is the information available? What are the facts?

What do I need to be cautious?

What is the upside? How can this situation be improved? What are the possibilities?

How can I look at this objectively?

Paul said, “I have learned, in what ever situation I find myself in, to be content”

Be a Thermostat…not a Thermometer.

The Red Cap is the Cap of Emotion.

When you wear the red hat, ask yourself: how do I feel?

Some of us have a loose definition of the word “fine”. How you feeling? “Fine! Stop asking me!”

What emotions come up? What is my intuition telling me? What are my gut feelings telling me?

To remember the red hat as the emotional one, imagine a fire.

The Blue Cap is the Manager.

When you put on the blue cap as the manager, think about the sky. Look up and remember the Bigger Picture. Remember that Providence governs the current realities.

When you wear the blue hat, listen to the other hats, think about the big picture, and make your final decision.

Act. Don’t act solely on logic or emotions. Act with head and heart aligned with an understanding of God’s will.

Questions to ask yourself in the situation:

How am I like the persons in the Biblical story?

Am I like Jacob and Laban, trying to get the upper-hand in a power relationship?

Am I like Leah and Rachel, jockeying for approval, someone’s attention and making choices that hold longterm consequences?

Am I like Jacob and Esau, carrying unresolved issues—sibling rivalry and bitterness—avoiding the day of reckoning, or longing for revenge?

Invest in the Moment

To invest in the moment is to share in the Glory of God. God’s character, attributes, splendor, wisdom, power, goodness, holiness, love and mercy are available now.

Notice that Investing in the Moment Produces Returns

Romans 5:3–4 NIV

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Perseverance / Endurance = “capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances. Paul commended the Thessalonians for having “endurance inspired by hope in our Lord jesus Christ.” (1 Thess. 1:3)

Character = The proven genuineness of a person by examination and testing.

Distraction causes Dis-Traction

The Most Important Thing is to keep the Most Important Thing the Most Important Thing.

When Jacob meet his uncle, Laban, all he possessed was a staff. After twenty years of working for a man who constantly plotted to cheat, exploit and control him, Jacob walked away with Laban’s two daughters, numerous servants, and livestock—cattle, sheep and donkeys.

Just consider that gift he would latter give to his brother Esau was a portion of what he had gained:

Genesis 32:13–15 NIV

He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

Time-Less / Trust More

Genesis 29:20 NIV

So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

“Oh, how time flies when you are having fun,” enjoying the journey. Driving long distances was never enjoyable to me, but I learned something. Rather than clock the hours, if I simply relaxed and took in the scenery and enjoy the ride, and in no time my exit was approaching.

Time-less, we loose the moment by clocking time. We surrender the sovereignty of our lives to the clock. Our wakening attention is governed by the clock. Our days are numbered by the calendar. This entire existence of time and space is reduced to a dash between to dates etched on tombstones.

Steve Jobs responded to his daughter’s question about why he never wore a watch.

"I don't want to be bound by time," he told his daughter.

The decision of not wearing a watch for Jobs was about not having a painful reminder of what we all are losing every moment -- time.

Someone said, “Whatever you want to control, you should monitor. But if you can’t control it, don’t monitor it.”

Time-less, stop watching the clock.

Time-less, stop counting the days.

Time-less, take no thought for tomorrow and the future. Smell the coffee, tea, Cabernet or what ever is in your cup.

Smell the roses, lavender, the cedar wood, and ocean scents.

Time-less, turn off those notifications.

“Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on...

I got my hand on the gospel plow

Won’t take nothing for my journey now

Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.”

Genesis 31:3 NIV

Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

God says, “I am”, not “I was” or “I will be”—even though He is the Alpha and the Omega”, we must always be cognizant that God Is with us.

Time-Less / Trust More

God’s Timing