Jacob was a tireless worker. Even when his employer (who was his uncle Laban) was dishonest in his dealings with him, Jacob kept working hard while his less-than-ethical uncle kept prospering.
When Jacob had had enough of this abuse, he asked Laban if he could take his family and leave. At this point Jacob had 11 children, 2 wives, a number of servants, but no wealth because he had been a hired hand all this time.
As we talked about this situation, we discussed how Jacob hadn’t consulted with God about the plan to leave and how God had not given Jacob any instruction to leave. As the story unfolded it became more clear that God used the uncle to prepare him for the future time when God would instruct Jacob to leave.
When Jacob makes this request, uncle Laban realizes that he is benefiting from God’s hand of blessing on Jacob and he insists Jacob not leave. Jacob agrees to stay for a period of time, but not for a wage. This time Jacob wants to build his wealth and proposes a plan for him to retain livestock born speckled, spotted or streaked. This was a way of identifying who owned what and boy does Jacob’s wealth grow!
A number of years pass and God finally tells Jacob it is time to leave. But by now God has increased Jacob’s wealth — he is very wealthy when he takes his family and departs to return to his homeland.
This story was a good illustration for how God provides and protects us even when we don’t understand what His grand plan is at that moment. It it similar to connecting the dots to reveal a picture. It is only at the end of a period of time that we can really see the more complete picture of what God was doing in our lives.