Is this really part of the plan?

Last night in bible study, we are still tackling Genesis, which is just fascinating by the way.  Anyway, as life would have it we were all presenting our prayer requests and we received some bad news about one of our members.


Just one question, why does it seem like bad stuff just keeps on happening.  Doesn't the devil take a break for heaven's sake?


So after we pray, we get started on our studying part and also as life would have it, we were at the section where Jacob is getting blessed by his father, but his father thinks he is Esau.


Confusing isn't it.


But let's not put all of the blame on Jacob, while he is sneaky, his mother pretty much tells him what to do and he does it!


So Esau is pretty upset, because since Isaac was tricked into giving his blessing to Jacob there is no blessing for him.  Back in the day, the blessing meant everything.  


This is the part where we could start talking about how "the spoken word" has so much power, but I want to save that for another day.


So since Rebekah knows how angry Esau is, she comes up with yet another plan to get Jacob to safety.  While he is on his journey he has a dream.  In it he see's a stairway to heaven with Angels going up and down the stairway.  God tells him that he is the Lord, God of Abraham and Isaac, and he tells him how he is going to bless him and be with him always.


When Jacob wakes up he is afraid, as he should be, God did just talk to him.  


Jacob anoints a rock and prays, and his prayer is somewhat of a bargaining prayer that if God will be with him on his journey, and deliver him safely back home, then he will let him be his God.


Did you get the key points there, the if and then.


The whole point of me telling the long story was to get to the prayer by the way, but I just thought it was a really good story.


I have said before that I know I pray for the wrong things, and apparently thanks to Jacob, I am not alone.  But what I was thinking about was how hard it is to really pray for the right things.  


When someone is sick, we naturally want for them to be healed, so that is what we ask for, are we wrong in asking?  


We want our kids and families to be happy and content, is it wrong to ask for those things?


I don't really think it's wrong to ask, I think God wants us to come to him with everything, but I guess where it gets hard is where we have to just completely let him be in control.  And when we say, your will be done, we need to be accepting of what his will really is.  We like to try to guide God with what we think should happen, or what we think is best, but we have to face the fact that we don't really know what is best for us.  


He does.


And when I read about how Rebekah and Jacob didn't do what was right at the time, look at how that plan came together.


He does have a plan for us all, we just don't see the big picture, we only see bits and pieces.  So  when it seems like you are trying to do the right things and pray for all the right things, but we aren't getting anywhere, we have to remember, we aren't seeing the whole story.  Maybe we are at the part where Esau feels betrayed and angry.  Or Isaac is disappointed that he has been deceived.  But when it starts coming together, and it will, we will see the big picture.