Peace and justice—ever notice how closely those two are linked? It’s hard to feel at peace when we believe we’ve suffered an injustice—or when we realize we’ve treated someone else unfairly.
This morning, I’m reading the story of Jacob, who tipped the scales of justice in both directions. Having helped his mother deceive his father, Isaac, and cheat his older brother, Essau, out of his birthright, Jacob is then cheated and deceived himself. He falls in love with Rachel and agrees to work seven years for her hand in marriage, but her father, Laban, gives Jacob his older daughter instead. Jacob has to agree to work seven more years before Laban will give him the younger daughter he loves. Over a period of 20 years, Laban takes advantage of Jacob again and again, but God blesses him again and again and ultimately tells him that it's time to go, to leave his father-in-law's house.
Most of us experienced our first taste of injustice before kindergarten. As soon as we could string together words, “That’s not fair!” entered our repertoire. And I’ll confess to the occasional revenge fantasy—the perfect pointed comeback to a mean-spirited remark or a “that’ll show 'em!” vision like the ones little Ralphie was prone to in A Christmas Story as he battled the forces trying to keep him from that Red Rider BB gun.
However, responding to somebody else’s meanness with meanness of our own never feels good. Neither does treating somebody unfairly because they did the same to us. We can’t control what other people do—only what we do. And that’s the lesson I’m seeing in Jacob this morning. You could say that he got a taste of his own medicine. And maybe that’s why he responded to Laban the way he did—Jacob answered deceit with integrity and fair play. But as he grew stronger, as he grew confident in God’s ability to bless him in a difficult situation, he followed the Lord’s command and left Laban behind. The two relatives eventually made their peace, asking God to be the witness to the covenant they made together.
Jacob didn’t seek revenge, but he wasn’t a doormat, either. He did the right thing until God led him away from an impossible situation. That’s a lesson I’m trying to learn—the difference between what I can control and what I can’t and the faith and wisdom to know when its time to move on, in peace. I’m not sure it’s a lesson that will ever be completed. I think it’s one we all have to work on day by day. But I believe it's the only way to replace “that’s not fair!” with “peace like a river in my soul.”
[Image by Gareth James Foreman @ Freerangestock.com]
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