Resistance

Could it be that your resistance to change will leave you outside the design? 

Many when change occurs, refuse to change with the changes therefore leaving themselves, their gifting, their calling, their passion rendered useless. 

• Change is a storm and it will tear you from your current position but as you adjust with it, move with it, I believe it will lead you to a new place, that is deeper in God, through it's design. 

Genesis 31:1-55 NLT 

We see change occurring through frustration, condemnation, mistreatment, greed, and jealousy. 

• Laban is greedy, jealous, condemning, and mistreating his own family, while Jacob is mentally, emotionally, and physically frustrated. 

1. Change through the frustration.

• Jacob was a man of God that had spent years of his life making adjustments for his father-in-law.
• Jacob was patient, he was kind, he was driven by character as he never cheated Laban in anything, but frustration overtook him in this portion of the story and he choose to leave this mess. 
• We see through Jacob's choices that if he would have chosen to run out way early he would not be as blessed as he was. 
• Verse, [3] Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you." 
• God had given the timing to Jacob, God will give the timing to you. 
• God had His hand on Jacob and continued to bless him though his Father-in-law was trying to cheat him, through change after change. 
• When God's hand is on you nothing, nor anyone can take away what God has designed and purposed for you. 
• Jacob changed through the constant change and allowed God to change him. 
• As you allow God to make adjustments in your character, He will lead you to your destination. 
• If you refuse and continually bring resistance to the change like Laban, the blessings of God will leave you. 

2. Resistance is good until something breaks. 

• A rubber band is only beneficial if it is surrounding something through resistance but like a rubber band too much resistance can break you.
• Laban was continually changing the rules on Jacob, his son-in-law and his very own daughters. 
• It didn't seem like he ever wanted them to succeed but just that he wanted to break them. 
• Those evoking change, those pushing, those stretching you must be careful to not overextend. 
• Those receiving the change, adapting to the change, and reshaping with the change need to be careful that they continue allowing themselves to be in the right amount of resistance.
• Resistance will grow you, it will deepen you, it will challenge you but it can also destroy you. 
• The perfect balance must be found and achieved for maximum impact to be sustained. 
• Continually adjusting yourself around the situation, problem, frustration, training, will eventually adjust yourself right out of the solution all together. 

3. Keeping the right heart and spirit before God is always the goal. 

• We see in verse [44] So come, let's make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment." 
• Laban and Jacob make a covenant before God, before their families, and before each other that they will both allow the adjustments of God to take place in their lives. 
• What a powerful testimony to have before God and men, that the covenant you make is life binding. 
• We act as if God hates us when He allows more troubles than we can bear. 
• He promised in scripture that He will allow us to experience times when we are consumed by situations that are bigger than our own strength can handle so that the only place to turn would be to Him. 
• That way we constantly see, feel, and know Christ is our solution to all and every resistance. 

Finally, we see that when everyone honors God in their heart and spirit the world will witness our vows, God will serve as our judge and we will go with the blessings of the Father. 

[51] "See this pile of stones," Laban continued, "and see this monument I have set between us. [52] They stand between us as witnesses of our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me. [53] I call on the God of our ancestors-the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of my grandfather Nahor-to serve as a judge between us." So Jacob took an oath before the fearsome God of his father, Isaac, to respect the boundary line. [54] Then Jacob offered a sacrifice to God there on the mountain and invited everyone to a covenant feast. After they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain. [55] Laban got up early the next morning, and he kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home."