What Happens When We Fail To Trust God

It is my examination that the contents listed here in verses 15-30, conveys the conviction that this man Jacob had a problem when it came down to trusting God.

The basis for that conclusion is based on the facts that here was a man, along with his mother, had conspired, schemed and tricked both his father and brother out of the blessing and birthright of the first-born. And the consequences for what he did, puts his life at risk of death to the point where he’s now on the run.

But even in his flight from the consequence of his action, the Lord, in sovereign mercy, gives him an unconditional promise of his endless presence and protection on his journey and bring him safely to the home of his uncle. And even now in this venture, Jacob still tried to do things his way. He still trying to out think, con, scam, and use his tricks to get what he wanted.

Now I don’t know how you might feel about this matter, but, to me, Jacob was a man who had a series problem with trusting God. He was a man who had a serious problem with coming to grips with the fact that God had a plan that covered all of his life; he didn’t understand that God had planned, and provisions for all of his needs since day one of his birth to day last of his death; obviously he didn’t believe that God is totally reliable and trustworthy, and that God only wanted what was best for him, Jacob only trusted himself. He always held back something in reserve. He always had a back-up plan. He trusted no one but

himself.

The vow that he vowed in Genesis 28:20-21 speaks of this problem. He says: “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go.”

But what he obviously didn’t know is that God was with him and did keep him, because he said, and if God “will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, again God actually did give him food and clothing, “so that I come again to my father’s house in peace: then shall the Lord be my God.” look at what this man is declaring, look at what he was saying, he was saying that he would not trust God until God had solved all of his problems and provided all of his needs.

And Saints we have some of these same tendency, we will hold out on God until He has met all of our demands. The positions of our total trust goes something like this: ‘Lord, if You will give me a good paying job, a brand new car, a husband or a wife, heal my body, straighten up my finances and save all of my children; then, Lord, I will serve You. We sometimes act as if the Lord needs us because we are so valuable; we act as if God would be blessed to have us. We have missed the fact that God don’t need us, but we need God.

This is why we are always in a hurry; we want God to move in a microwave fashion. We can’t wait, everything is in panic mode, rush status, and of urgency. He said if God fills this check list, then I’ll trust him.

My question is, what was Jacob going to do while God was guiding, guarding and providing for him all this time? It seems to me that the relationship was one-sided. God was to do all the giving, and Jacob was doing all of the receiving. We have to understand that a covenant is a contract, an agreement, and a bond based on a relationship. Jacob wanted God to enter into a relationship with him while he remained neutral, and He was not going to depend on God, until God moved the way he wanted him to move.

And so, the question that our text raises is, what do we do, when we fail to trust God? What do we do, when you fail to take God at his Word? What do we do, when you fail to rely on the present of the goodness of God? Here’s my real question, how are we going to make it on your own?

Well, let me suggest that there are a number of things we will do, when you have a problem trusting God.

The first things we do is: we begin to serve a human master.

That is the First Thing Jacob Did as recorded in verse 15. Because he would not serve God, he had to serve a human master. In this 15th verse, Laban says to Jacob: “Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”