“Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!” And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”Genesis 30:1-2 NKJV
Our focus today is on Jacob’s response to Rachel. She had put her husband in a place where only God belongs. She had made him her source. Marriages and relationships are falling apart because we have made people gods in our lives. We were not meant to meet the total needs of anyone. We are resources at best, never the Source. Never put people in a place where God alone belongs.
Whenever we depend on anyone to meet our spiritual, emotional, social, economical and physical needs we have without realizing it made them our Source. One of the reasons why we put that kind of pressure on people is, we don’t know or understand the nearness of our Father. We think He’s far from us. I heard a song the other day, “God is watching us from a distance.” It may sound good but it’s a lie. God came near in the person of His Son and He’s never left us. Want proof?
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”John 14:15-18 NKJV
How can who is in you be watching you from a distance? If you have the Holy Spirit you have God with you always. Listen to what Moses asked Israel when He was making a distinction between the self made gods of other nations and the One true God. And listen to what Gabriel told Joseph.
“For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?”Deuteronomy 4:7 NKJV
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”Matthew 1:23 NKJV
I believe it was Bette Midler who did the original version of that song, and unfortunately a Christian artist believed it enough to re-record it. She has not known the nearness of our God. If He is watching from a distance then we have no choice but to depend on who we think is near. Fallen man can never be our source, God uses us to be helpful to each other but we should never become anyone’s sole source of help. As a matter of fact, we need to be discerning before we jump in to bail people out.
Jacob was right in his response to his wife. He’s not the giver of life. When we make the most High God our Source for all things, He takes that which is barren or dead and brings life to it. When Hannah sought Him instead of Elkanah the Lord remembered her. When Rachel turned to Him instead of Jacob, God remembered her.
“Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.”Genesis 30:22 NKJV
When we turn to Him, He’ll remember us. Stop looking to man for what only God can do. He opens and closes doors, He brings promotions and opportunities to us. He supplies all our need. He makes a way where there’s no way. The resource is not the Source. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us to:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
We lean to our own understanding when we choose to depend on man or our jobs to be our source. If your job was your source it would meet all your needs. If people were your source they’d meet all your needs, but neither was designed to.
We’re reminded throughout scripture who is our eternal provider. And when we truly believe that, we will experience His abundance in our lives.
“Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;”Psalms 91:9-10 NKJV
Lack is a plague, sickness is a plague, worry and anxiety is a plague, fear is a plague. But according to Psalm 91 if we make the Lord our refuge and dwelling place, no evil shall befall or come near us. I think it’s time for a reevaluation of where our trust and dependency lies. We cannot experience the promises while putting people in the place of God. Who or what have you made your source? Have you discovered that they have not measured up to your expectations? Release it or them today. God who is near desires to answer you. His glory will not be shared with another god. Remember Jacob’s question: Am I in the place of God? He didn’t want that role. And we shouldn’t either. We’re poor substitutes for God, but great tools in His hands for good. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Determine to never make the resource your source. See Morning Messages July 15, 2021.
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
December 28, 2021