And he said, “Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you” (Genesis 31:12 NIV).
God has seen what someone else has been doing to you. Even though the other person is powerful and can manipulate circumstances to make you the loser, there is someone who is watching.
Therefore take heart. At the right time He will make His rescue-plan known to you.
When Laban tried to reduce Jacob to nothing, Jacob tried some techniques to get the good flock of Laban. For when Jacob had said that his wages would be the streaked, speckled or spotted lambs from the flock, Laban had removed every single one of them (Genesis 30:34).
So Jacob had to start from nothing to get his own flocks. He used peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks mated to get his share of streaked, speckled and spotted lambs as his wages. He thus became prosperous. And he thought that his technique had worked.
But this changed the attitude of Laban and his sons toward Jacob. That is quite expected; isn’t it? But Jacob had to learn a lesson. He had to learn that it was not his technique that brought him all the healthy flock and the prosperity.
Instead it was God, who was watching all that Laban was doing to Jacob (Even Laban’s cheating Jacob by changing his wages ten times!). So God spoke to Jacob in a dream. In this dream Jacob saw that all the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted.
By this God wanted Jacob to know that it was He who changed the situation in favor of Jacob.
So no matter what others are doing to you, you can know that God is watching. Even when the circumstances look totally without hope, God can change the situation in your favor. Remember, that it is not your wisdom that counts; but the One who gives you the wisdom.
This Jacob acknowledges thrice in his brief conversation with his wives, Leah and Rachel: “But the God of my father has been with me” (v. 5), “However, God has not allowed him to harm me” (v. 7), and finally, “So God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me” (v. 9).
So be encouraged today. In your misery do not trust in your techniques. Instead trust in God who is watching all that is being done to you.
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