"And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses."
In the All-Inclusive, Perfect Plan of the All-Wise God our Savior, There is a Season for Every Thing, and a Time for Every Purpose. Every Thing has been allotted a Limited Span of Time. Every Purpose has its Due Date. There is an Appointed Time for Every Thing, and a Limited Opportunity for Every Activity under heaven.
The Events of our Life are Not Accidental. They are Placed in Due Order. Each Event has its own Appointed Season. There is this Cycle of Life. Things happen again and again in our life; but yet, they recur at Seasons Appointed By God.
There is a time to be born, and a time to die. There is a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. Just as there is a time to weep, there is a time to laugh. As there is a time to mourn, there is also a time to dance. As there is a time to get, there is likewise a time to lose. THERE IS AN APPOINTED TIME FOR EVERY THING AND A LIMITED OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY ACTIVITY.
Therefore, I submit to us that Just as God Has Appointed a Time for Barrenness in our Life, He has also Ordained SEASONS FOR BLESSINGS.
There are Special Seasons when God satisfies His servants with everything that makes life rich and full and hurts no one else. The writer of the Book of Proverbs said: "The Blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it." Every good thing we enjoy in this material world that brings no sorrow to others is part of the Blessing of God, part of the Happiness of His Plan. And so, our Target Text reminds us that "The man Increased Exceedingly ...."
There are special seasons when God bestows on us the Happiness of a Sense of Pardoned Sins. We know that our past will not rise up to condemn us. We have that Felt-Sense of Inner Peace with God. Even the Treasures of heaven seem to be opened to us. God has Ordained Seasons of Blessings, of Prosperity, of Happiness for His Servants. And so, our Target Text reminds us that "The man Increased Exceedingly ... and Had Much ...."
I wonder: DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
We always seem to want to know What Time It Is. We wake up in morning, and our first instinct is to know What Time It Is. We consult clocks, and watches at regular intervals thru-out the day. Every so often we catch ourselves saying: "I don’t have the time."
In our daily routines, we do all kinds of things to time. We use it, we waste it, we mark it, we make it. Some even "do" it. We grab it, and as a final insult, we kill it.
Yet none of us seem to know WHAT TIME IT IS.
I believe that if we would ask Jacob this morning, he would tell us. I believe he would tell us: "ITS MY TIME TO BE BLESSED!" For I believe he has come to realize that in the Perfect Plan of God there are SEASONS OF BLESSINGS for the Children of God’s Covenant. I believe that he recalled the word of his father, Isaac, before he left home. For in Genesis 28:3-4, Isaac said to Jacob: "And God Almighty Bless thee, and make thee Fruitful, and Multiply thee, that thou mayest be a Multitude of people; and give thee the Blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham." And I believe his memorable encounter with the Lord in Bethel came back as a reminder; in which, the Lord God of Abraham and the God of Isaac his father told him: "And, behold, I Am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." (29:15)
So no wonder Jacob tells his uncle Laban "Let Me Go." And after analyzing that Laban’s prosperity was on account of his presence and performance, Jacob posed the question in Verse 30: "And now When shall I Provide for Mine Own House also?" I believe that in asking that question, Jacob was declaring to Laban ITS MY TIME TO BE BLESSED!
Perhaps you might be wondering, How do I Know When It’s My Time to be Blessed? Norris, I thought not too long ago that that was my time to be blessed. I expected God to move in a mighty way in my life, but it didn’t happen. How, then, can I Know with absolute certainty When It’s My Time to be Blessed?
Well, if we would hush our hearts and still our suspicions, perhaps the Spirit of Truth just might enlighten us on When Is The Season of Our Blessing. I wonder, Are You Interested?
Now right away in the context of Verses 27-31 is revealed ONE INDICATOR OF YOUR TIME OF BLESSING. For it seems to suggest that -
I. WHENEVER THE LORD MAKES YOU MASTER OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES, ITS BLESSING TIME!
1. One truth that leaps from verses 27 & 28 is that Even the World of Unsaved Folk Know When the Lord Is Blessing You. There comes a point When They Know that the Lord Is With You!
Listen to what Laban says to Jacob in Verse 27:
"I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me FOR THY SAKE."
He recognized that JACOB WAS NOW THE MASTER OF HIS CIRCUMSTANCES!!
Whenever the Roles Are Reversed, in that, the Servant Becomes The Master and The Master Becomes the Servant, ITS BLESSING TIME!
Whenever you are asked to Specify What You Want, to Name Your Price, to Set Your Own Wages, ITS BLESSING TIME! For ordinarily in the business world, the company or the corporation has already drawn up its own terms of employment and benefits to be paid, and the employee is only asked to comply with what the employer specifies in the contract. The world generally tells you how much you will work for, how many hours you will work and what benefits, if any, it will give. And all you do is Sign on the Dotted Line with no negotiations or changes in the contract.
But however, whenever you are asked to draw up your own contract, stating your terms, and the ruling party agrees to sign on to your contractual arrangements, IT BLESSING TIME!
Now we need to understand that this Reversal of Roles Does Not Happen Too Often In Life. Some experience it at the beginning of a new career. Some taste it in Mid-Life. While still others experience it at the very end of life. It Doesn’t Happen That Often! In the Perfect Plan of God, a Window of Opportunity is given to us. And this window will not remain open too long. Just long enough for us to take advantage of the Opportunity. You can’t stand at the threshold of the Opening in doubt as to what to do. It will only remain Open for a Limited Season, and then It Will Close.
Perhaps some of us have been presented with This Opportunity For Blessing and have let It Close or Slip Away. For, sometimes, We Are Ignorant of Our Time Of Blessing. It could be that our humility or lack of holy boldness has caused us to allow the moment to pass by unseized. And perhaps, looking back on it now, we regret that we did not take advantage of it. I know that in my own experience, I’ve been offered this opportunity and have turned it down; and now I realize how foolish I was! I even tried to rationalize it by saying that it wasn’t God’s will for me at the time. Or that, I wasn’t qualified to handle it. But in retrospect, I realize it was My Time Of Blessing and I Blew-It Big Time!
And so, I think I need to interject this sobering truth at this juncture. Before the Lord Will Allow Us To Master Our Circumstances, HE FIRST MUST MASTER US! Because of our incredulity and failure to trust Him, God causes us to undergo the School of Servant-hood and even Bondage to Human Masters. We must serve until our Pride is broken, and our Confidence in Ourselves and our Ability to handle our own life is thrown aside. And when we come to the point in life, in which, we recognize that our Loving Father Has Called Us To Freedom in the Lord of Life, it is then the process begins, in which, The Roles Are Reversed.
He First Masters Us Before He Allows Us To Master Our Circumstances!
When We Trust Him Is When He Trusts Us To Manage Our Circumstances!
For the Lord does Not always Remove the Bondage. Sometimes He only Makes It Manageable!
He might not Heal us of a sickness, but He Will Make It Manageable!
He might not bring us out of Debt, but He Will Make It Manageable!
He might not Deliver us from our enemies, but He Will Make Them Manageable!
He might not remove the Trouble, but He Will Make It Manageable!
He might not remove the Thorn or Pain, but He Will Make It Manageable!
He might not take away the Misery, He’ll Just Make It Manageable!
Not till We Can Trust Him will He Cause Us to Master Our Circumstances!
That’s what the Apostle Peter alludes to in 1 Peter 5:10 where he wrote: "after you have suffered awhile, the God of all grace make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."
HE WILL MAKE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES MANAGEABLE UNTIL HE GETS READY TO MAKE YOU MASTER OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!
But the point of this Message is to remind us that THERE ARE SEASONS WHEN THE LORD MAKES US MASTERS OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES! He Grants Us the Privilege of NAMING The Amount Of Our Blessing!
It’s a fact that the Amount of Our Faith Is Vital to the Magnitude of Our Blessing. God can supply no more than our total capacity to receive. We set the amount of our blessing by Our Expectant and Obedient Faith. Perhaps you’ll understand the principle if I state it this way: It is the Number of Vessels that we Borrow that Determines How Much Oil We Shall receive. It is the Number of Ditches We Dig that Determines the Amount of Water We Collect. It is the Faith-Word We Speak that Determines the Magnitude of Our Blessing. You and I, not God, will set (to a degree) the Magnitude of Our Blessing. Now if you want further confirmation of this Principle, then I invite you to turn to Matthew 9:27-30.
You see, Jacob was to Set the Amount of His Blessing. Said Laban in verse 28: "Appoint Me Thy Wages, and I Will Give It."
THE SERVANT BECAME THE MASTER. Therefore, WHENEVER YOU BECOME THE MASTER OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES, ITS YOUR TIME TO BE BLESSED!!!
Amy Carmichael once said: "A wise master never wastes his servant’s time." No matter what set of circumstances we receive, God will not waste an experience if we remain obedient to Him. He Will Allow Us To Manage and Master Our Circumstances!!!
But there’s a SECOND INDICATOR of When Its Blessing Time In Your Life found in Verses 32-42, which is this:
III. WHEN EXTREMELY UNUSUAL AND SEEMINGLY RIDICULOUS PLANS ARE MADE TO WORK, ITS BLESSING TIME!!!
Now I must admit that this Plan of Jacob seemed Ridiculous, even Superstitious to me. He takes Sticks or Rods of a tree, strips off the bark and makes it look something like a candy-cane. Then places them in the Gutters of the watering hole when the flock of sheep and goat come to drink. And the males of the flock are seized by this uncontrollable urge to copulate when they see these sticks in the gutters. And so, white female sheep and goat conceive and bare spotted offspring, black offspring and brown offspring. He just laid the rods before their eyes in the gutters and white sheep have colored lambs. Now, that sounds Ridiculous; but IT WORKED!!!
And so, I had to ask, Why Would This Seemingly Ridiculous Plan Work?
And after some time spent scratching my head trying to reason it out, the Spirit of Truth led me to Chapter 31 and showed me the Master-Mind behind this Odd Strategy. For in his conversation with his wives, Rachel and Leah, Jacob tells them Why It Worked. He seems to be saying in Verses 10-13 that It Worked Because It was the Lord’s Idea and the Lord’s Doing. Let’s reads verses 10-13 of chapter 31.
I tell you, the Lord’s Ways Are Strange, but They Are Always Effective!
They are Strange to the Flesh, but Sane and Sagacious to Faith.
To the flesh it seems ridiculous to have a man hold a stick over a wide sea. But to Faith it was the Means of displaying God’s Awesome Power on the Platform of A Human Problem.
To the flesh it seems ridiculous to have Unarmed folk to march around the walls of a city seven days, seven times and on the seventh time to start shouting victory. But to Faith it was the means by which God used to bring down the Defense of a city.
God’s Ways Are Strange but They Are always Effective!
Come Here, Blind Man, and testify to the Wisdom of God’s Plan!
Well, Jesus just harked and spit on the ground, made clay ofthe spit, and told me to go and wash. So I did. And I came back with better than 20/20 vision.
Come here, Moses, and testify to the Wisdom of God’s Plan.
Well serpents came in the camp and bit the people. They
were dying and there was no cure. So the Lord told me
to make a serpent of brass and set it on a pole, and
to raise that pole up in the midst of the camp. And
those who just looked at the brazen serpent were healed.
God’s Ways Are Strange, but They Are Always Effective. So, Go On and Do Whatever the Spirit of God Told You To Do. Go Head On and Put Your Sticks in the Gutters of Your Problems!!!
For somewhere I read that the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
Somewhere I read that we have received, not the spirit of the world,but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Somewhere I read that the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Somewhere I read that God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
Somewhere I read that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or thing, according to the Power that works in us.
Somewhere I read that it is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord of hosts.
Somewhere I read that Power belongs to the Lord.
Somewhere I read that there is such a Depth to the Riches of God’s Wisdom and Knowledge that His judgments are unsearchable and His ways past finding out.
And so, I can’t explain it. All I Know Is: ITS MY TIME TO BE BLESSED! I can’t explain this strategy of taking stripped sticks and placing them in the gutters of the watering holes. All I know is that IT WORKED! For I’m Increased Exceedingly and Have Much. And before I did it, I was Struggling With Little. My Little Became Much in the Master’s Hands. I KNOW THAT IT WORKS! No, I can’t explain how Stripped Sticks placed in the Gutters before White Sheep can Produce Colored Sheep. ALL I KNOW IS THAT IT WORKED!!!
I can relate to Jacob. Because there are some experiences in my life that are Unsolved Mysteries!
For No, I can’t explain how one day I was strung out on drugs and the next day I was in my right mind! All I know is that THE STICKS WORKED!!
I can’t explain how I was dying from a heart attack, and just the church coming to my bedside, praying the prayer of faith, saved me from heart failure and the Lord raised me up. All I know is that THE STICKS WORKED!!!
You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna Keep on Using ’THESE STICKS OF THE SPIRIT!’
I’m going to keep on Sticking these Sticks in the Gutters of My Problems!
I’m gonna Stick Them in the Gutters of My Worries!
I’m gonna Stick Them in the Gutters of My Hurts!
I’m gonna Stick Them in the Gutters of My Sickness!
I’m gonna Stick Them in the Gutters of My Finances!
I’m gonna Stick Them in the Gutters of My Misery!
Do You know why? It’s because THESE STICKS OF THE SPIRIT CAN CHANGE THE COLOR OF MY CIRCUMSTANCES!
Gloom becomes Glee.
Misery becomes Mirth.
Hurt becomes Health.
Poverty becomes Plenty.
Sadness becomes a Song.
Because the STICKS OF THE SPIRIT PLACED IN THE GUTTERS OF MY CARES CAN CHANGE THE COLOR OF MY CIRCUMSTANCES!!
KEEP USING THOSE STICKS! STICK THEM IN THE GUTTERS OF YOUR PROBLEMS!
Now, if the Lord has taken you from Making the Circumstances Manageable to Mastering Them, and if you are Pursuing His Spirit-Enlightened Strategy, then ITS YOUR TIME TO BE BLESSED!!
And if you know that ITS YOUR TIME TO BE BLESSED, then let me make a suggestion. The suggestion is this:
LET’S TAKE A BLESSING BREAK!
Millions of people take Coffee Breaks two or three times a day. But very few take Time For BLESSING BREAKS.
A Blessing Break is a brief time of PRAISE and PRAYER for the purpose of quieting the heart and getting new guidance and strength from the Lord.
A Blessing Break is a brief time in which we Stop to BLESS THE LORD.
Well now, If You Know ITS YOUR TIME TO BE BLESSED, TAKE A BLESSING BREAK!
JUST LIFT UP HOLY HANDS NOW AND BEGIN TO BLESS THE LORD.
LET YOUR SOUL JUST BLESS THE LORD.
IF YOU KNOW THAT HE HAS DONE SOMETHING FOR YOU,DO SOMETHING FOR HIM. BLESS HIS HOLY NAME.
TAKE A BLESSING BREAK.
PRAISE HIM.
EXALT HIM.
EXTOL HIM.
MAGNIFY HIM.
STROKE HIS FACE.
BOAST ON HIM.
BRAG ON HIM.
TAKE A BLESSING BREAK !!!
ITS YOUR TIME TO BE BLESSED!!!
