Posted on by Abe Austin

The Games That Matter

It is better to be taken advantage of than to take advantage
Better to lose unfairly than to cheat
Better to trust than avoid betrayal
Better to forgive than demand justice

These are hard ideals to live by. They leave us open to being manipulated in the games of life and may very well result in a losing position. But if you play games whose outcome can be manipulated, then it’s a game that doesn’t really matter. If cheaters can get ahead in that game, then winning the game brings no honor and losing it brings no shame.

There are other games that you can play, ones that truly matter. You will know what they are by the fact that no one else can ever make you lose your place, only you.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 31:14-16

14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 

15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. 

16 For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

If Jacob had been concerned about how Rachel and Leah would feel about leaving their father’s household, it turns out that he didn’t need to be. Rachel and Leah felt that Laban did not view them as his daughters anymore, and they in turn left off viewing him as their father. After all, he had sold each of them to Jacob for seven years’ service and had never so much as given them a marriage dowry.

But just as God had taken from Laban and given to Jacob, He had also been accounting for Rachel and Leah. For through Jacob they had received all of Laban’s wealth anyway. Jacob had provided for them in the place of their father, and God had provided for him. Thus, they did not need their old father any longer, they only needed God, and in a declaration of faith they encouraged their husband to follow the Lord in whatever He required.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 31:10-13

10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.

11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

13 I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

I mentioned earlier how I used to think Jacob had made the cattle be born striped and speckled by having them look at striped and speckled sticks, but that this is not what the biblical record actually states, and today’s verses further reaffirm that.

Here it is made abundantly clear that the increase of striped and speckled goats was the result of divine intervention. God had seen the unfair things that Laban was doing, and He had curtailed them by taking Laban’s wealth and giving it to Jacob anyway.

Which is a wonderfully encouraging thought. The unjust and the dishonest may seem to prevail for a time, but none of it goes unnoticed by God, and in time He will redistribute everything according to His own purposes. If in my life I am never wealthy, it will not be because cheaters took what God had intended for me to have. So long as I surrender myself to His will, then I can be comfortably sure I am receiving exactly the wealth or poverty that He knows is right for me.