After stealing his brother’s birthright, Jacob fled to Padan Aram to escape Esau’s wrath and find a wife (Gen 27-28). He shepherded there for as long as 21 years and left with wives, children, servants, oxen, donkeys, and flocks (Gen 29-31). When the time came that he was going to meet his brother again, not knowing what Esau would do, he began preparing for the meeting and prayed:
“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude’ ” (Gen 32:9-12, Unless otherwise stated: Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Used by permission. All rights reserved).
If we aren’t careful, we can forget that all of the good things we have come from God (Jas 1:17). Trials cause us to recall our reliance upon God and call on Him as Jacob did. However, even before the difficulty, it would do us well to ask ourselves, “What am I worthy of?”
The answer is humbling and should drive us to a similar prayer and reliance upon God as we see in Jacob.
Unworthy,
Van
