Distressed

"Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed" Genesis 32:7

Distressed - "I just don't know what to do! Every way I turn, all I see is disaster." This thought in Hebrew is expressed by the verb yasar. It is used throughout the Old Testament to describe distress in times of war, pressure from social stress, anxiety over plans that do not work and the results of unfaithful people. In a particularly vivid example, this word describes the physical illness that results from Ammon's unfulfilled sexual desire for Tamar (2 Sam. 13:2).

The root word means, "to make narrow or straight". It is the idea of being constricted on all sides so that you feel like you can't move. Trapped! Caged! Your options suddenly disappear and all you can see are the walls on all sides.

Jacob hears that his brother is coming toward him with 400 men, an army big enough to wipe out Jacob and his family. He fears that Esau will seek revenge for all that Jacob has done over his lifetime of deception. He cries out to God in fear. But the amazing thing about this story is not Jacob's misunderstanding to Esau's motives. It is that Jacob has just received God's promise of protection and God's command to return to his homeland. Did Jacob forget that God was directing events?

The answer is "Yes." Jacob is as human as anyone of us. In a moment of panic, he forgets that God is in charge of life. He forgets that God's promises prevail. He forgets that God knows every circumstance. "Oh, God. How could you let all this happen? Why did you bring me here so that I could die? Look at all the bad things that will happen to me, and all because I listened to You?" Does that sound like something you might have said? Jacob lets his emotions carry him away from God's faithfulness. Jacob forgets all about God in his anxiety.

Do we really believe that God's word will stand forever? Do we live on the basis of God's faithfulness toward us? Or are we just modern day Jacobs, seeing our lives pushed into traps and cages without room to maneuver? God would probably say the same thing to you and me that He would say to Jacob, "Why did you doubt? Don't you know Who I Am?" (If that reminds you of a night on the Sea of Galilee, don't' be surprised).

- Taken from Today's Word