Tag: trusting God

Broken Vessel

~ Sowmya Gali

Genesis 35: 2-3

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

My son and his friend gifted each other an exact coffee mug for Christmas. They decided that whenever they meet, they will bring the cup along and drink lemonade or some juice from their cups. Unfortunately, my son’s cup broke. He carefully picked all the broken pieces together, brought them home and put it up on his desk. He declared that soon he will glue it back together. I broke the news to him that however well he glues it back, he cannot be drinking from that cup as it will not be able to hold any liquid without leaking. Best suggestion I could give him is toss it out and get another one like that. However, my son refused and stuck to his original plan.

Jacob, now Israel is on his way back to the land of his inheritance after spending more than 20 years in Paddan Aram, gaining wives, children, livestock, and servants. He made peace with his father-in-law Laban after running away from him without informing him. He made amends with his estranged brother Esau. God wanted him to go to Bethel where he first encountered God on his run from the wrath of his brother Esau. However, he took a slight detour to Shechem. As he encamped near Shechem, the troubles started brewing.

Dinah, Israel’s daughter was molested by the prince of Shechem. When he wanted to marry her, the brothers laid a condition that the men of the city of Shechem had to be circumcised. As the men were recovering, Simeon and Levi, the sons of Jacob, slaughtered the men of Shechem, looted them and captured their women and children. When Jacob heard of this, he was afraid that the neighboring people in the region, when they hear what had befallen Shechem, would pursue Jacob and his family and kill them.

Jacob and his family packed up their tents and started moving towards Bethel. Jacob knew that unless he arrives to that place that God wanted him to, he will not find peace and rest. Therefore, Jacob hurried to Bethel. Jacob insisted that if he has to enter God’s presence, he must get rid of all the idols and purify himself. He commanded his entire family to cast out the idols, garments and other pagan things from among their midst. As soon as they reached Bethel, Jacob built an altar to God.

One would assume that, Jacob, who now found God, would have a wonderful remainder of his life. He would enjoy the blessings that were pronounced upon him. Unfortunately, things took a dramatic turn. Rebekah’s nurse, Deborah, who may have helped raise Jacob, died. Rachel, his beloved wife, died giving birth to Benjamin. Isaac died at a ripe old age. Reuben defiled his father’s bed by sleeping with one of his father’s concubines. Jacob is a wounded and broken man at this juncture. He has arrived to a desperate point in his life that he realized that he can’t fix the circumstances in his life. He threw himself at the mercy of God.

Jacob, the deceiver, manipulated his way all through his life. He tried to fix problems in his own strength. He, already being a broken man, could not fix anything else. He couldn’t restrain his sons Simeon and Levi from the slaughter of the people of Shechem. His own son defiled his bed. His fixing of his broken life didn’t fix the problems he was going through. He needed God to fix his broken life. Despite his best efforts, Jacob, the broken vessel, continued to leak.

Dear Saints of God, we are broken vessels. We are navigating through this life with broken shards, temporarily fixed. Our best efforts will not fix the broken vessel and make it as it was before. We can’t be useful for the Kingdom in our broken condition. Some where there will be a small defect. All our efforts to put up a cheerful façade on the outside, when we are broken on the inside, will neither help us nor be effective in God’s work. Let us submit ourselves into the hands of our true Potter, who is well able to fix these broken vessels. He is well able to identify where there are leaks or missing pieces. He will make us whole again, harden us just right so we could be jars that can be filled with His Spirit, to be used by the Master for His Glory.

The Battle of the Twins

~ Sowmya Gali ~ 1 Comment

Genesis 25: 23

The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.”

Rebekah was pregnant with twins – two individual people in one womb. They may have been the first set of twins the world has ever seen. As Rebekah was struggling with her pregnancy and wondering why she is having such symptoms, God answered her saying that she was carrying two babies in her womb. He also prophesied about them saying that the twins will be separated, one will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger.

According to the prophecy, Esau gives up his birthright for a bowl of stew and Jacob deceives his father to steal the blessing. After Esau has been robbed of the blessing, Jacob runs away. Thus, they have been separated. Jacob becomes strong and rich by seeking God. Esau, on the other hand, makes one bad decision after another and brought heartache to his parents. The nation of Israel becomes powerful while the Edomites are left to fend for themselves and are constantly warring with their neighbors. Two nations emerged from Rebekah’s womb: Esau or Edomites and Jacob or Israelites. Esau represents flesh and Jacob represents spirit.

When we are born, we too are born with twin nature. The nature of flesh, which is evil, causes us to sin, while the nature of spirit, which is God-given and breathed into us, causes us to choose good over evil. As the battle rages on from a very young age, through life’s struggles and choices, there comes a point in our lives that we have to separate the flesh and spirit. Our constant battle with flesh and its desires, causes us to stray away from God. We make poor choices. We compromise in key issues of life. We stray too far only to find ourselves hopeless and frail.

When we confess and accept Christ in our lives, then we learn to subdue our fleshly desires and prioritize the matters of the spirit. When Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the middle of the night, Jesus tells him that only a person who is born again can see the kingdom of God. Baffled, Nicodemus questioned Jesus of such a possibility. Jesus explains to him, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3: 5, 6. God in His divine plan wants us to live spirit-filled lives. The flesh and its desires are passing but the spirit lives on. Esau chose flesh while Jacob chose spirit. That is why God hated Esau but Jacob, He loved (Malachi 1:2, Romans 9: 13).

What then is the outcome of this battle of the twins within us? If we pursue flesh and its desires, they may satisfy us temporarily but there is no eternal satisfaction or joy. Endlessly, tirelessly, and aimlessly, we will be chasing after the wind trying to grasp something of this life. The wise teacher of Ecclesiastes says all life’s pursuits, fame, pleasure, and everything our eyes and hearts’ desire, are but a chasing after the wind. Instead fear God and live in obedience to Him, then our lives will be filled with hope and meaning. When we keep God’s commandments, then our lives are lived with a purpose. Live by faith and not by sight.

It is when we walk in the spirit, then we can subdue the flesh. The flesh even though, is still present and persistent, we are much more equipped to subdue our fleshly desires. The twins are separated. The younger twin subdues the older because the spirit is more powerful than the flesh. One day the younger twin will reign over the older twin and the older twin will serve the younger twin. Our flesh will be conquered by the spirit and the day is not too far when we will live by the spirit not by flesh. The flesh will serve the spirit for God’s glory. We may be born of flesh but when we are born of the spirit, we are more powerful.

Jacob inherited the blessing of God while Esau was left with naught. Dearly beloved, as the battle of the twins’ wages on, let us persevere in the truth that our God who conquered sin and the grave will equip us to overcome and be victorious. He will equip us to be more than conquerors so that we can live victoriously by the spirit. The flesh will be there but only to serve the spirit.