# 322 When Your Circumstances Don’t Look Good

The Book of Genesis

Day 322

Ge 34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I."

Simeon and Levi decided to enact justice against those who had raped their sister. They single-handedly wiped out the Hivite men, (who had been disabled by their act of being circumcised) and they delivered Dinah from her captors. One would think that their father would be pleased with their actions, but he wasn’t. In addition to being grieved over their deceitful proposal to have the Hivite men circumcised, (perhaps a reminder of his own old deceitful ways) Jacob was also concerned about the safety of his family.

He and his family were greatly outnumbered by the Canaanites and he was quite naturally concerned that his entire family could be wiped out, because of the actions of his two sons. How quick he was, and how quick we often are to forget God’s promises in the face of fearful circumstances.

In the King James version of this account it says, “You have made me to stink among the inhabitants of the land.” Just think about that for a moment. What do inhabitants of the land do today when there is a stink in their midst? They try to put an end to it don’t they! Many times you will pick up the paper and read stories of neighbors up in arms over an odiferous farm or factory, and then the legal action often taken to remove the source of the stench.

These Canaanites were going to act to get rid of that skunk Jacob! 

Obviously, Jacob had taken his eyes off of God and the promises God had made to him at Bethel, and that would be an easy thing to do considering the circumstances.  Ah yes…..circumstances.

Those conditions that so often surround us and cause us to take our eyes off of Jesus. It’s what happened to Peter when he hopped out of the boat and started to walk on water, and I know it has happened often to you and I as well.

Maybe you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by circumstances in your life today. May I encourage you to take some time to get away and spend some time with the Lord. Shut off the computer. Turn off the cell phone. Bring your Bible and ask God to speak assurance and courage to your heart as you dwell on the promises in His word.  In fact, maybe it would be a good idea to keep a file of those promises, so you can go to them immediately when you sense fear on the rise!

Don’t know where to start? The gospel of John says an awful lot about God’s love for you, and the Psalms often talk about overwhelming circumstances in David’s life. I have made it a practice to read a Psalm a day and highly recommend it to others!