“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ” Genesis 31:13
Life has a way of arresting your focus and directing it in a way that controls the direction of your life, often without knowing you have given over the control. It is easy to be in a place of total focus on eternal issues and following the path that God has designed for you to one day look up years later and see that life has moved you in a different direction. While a life of sin can be the cause, it’s often good things -family, career, etc.- that are responsible for moving you from God’s purpose for your life.
That was the case with Jacob. Before Jacob was born, God had chosen him to be the founder of the nation of Israel. He had a call, a purpose, a focus for his life. In response to a request from his parents, he had left his home to seek a wife from the family of his ancestors. It wasn’t long before he found himself caught in the throws of life. He had found his wife; two in fact. But he also found himself caught up in building a life for himself and his family. His family was growing, his income was rising, his assets were expanding. Blessings seemed to be multiplying. But with these things came greater responsibility to manage them. A desire to return to his home and the place of God’s calling was replaced with a need to service, maintain and expand the blessings of his life.
It is easy for us to get caught up in this same predicament. Life has a way of demanding our attention to its needs. In so doing, we often lose attention on the call of God for our lives. Do you find yourself in this predicament? Do you find yourself in a place that is not the place of God’s calling? Then, like Jacob, God is calling you to “arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.”
