Jacob was about to see his brother, Esau, for the first time since the “great deception” that cheated Esau out of his birthright and stole his blessing. Jacob was scared and divided up his wives and children to hopefully save some of them if Esau attacked. In Jacob’s mind, he was Esau’s enemy, and for good reason, so he was prepared for the worst.

“But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” (vs. 4)

Jacob came to his brother in humility. Esau came with mercy and forgiveness. Relationship was restored. And in that beautiful picture, I saw another…

And we, who had sinned against Him and became His enemy in our own mind, came with our humility. He came with His mercy and forgiveness. Relationship was restored.

Esau had clearly forgiven Jacob before they even met that day. But had Jacob refused to humble himself, he may never have experienced that forgiveness. A rebellious, arrogant posture toward Esau might have put Jacob at war with him and clearly, it would have been a war he would lose.

It is strange to me that I see myself in Jacob. Even stranger that I see God in Esau. But then again, it’s just like Him to show up in such an unusual place. He wants to be seen. He continually exposes His heart in His Word so that we can find it.

God does not want to be our enemy, He wants to be our Father. If we come with our humility, He will always meet us with His mercy. He will bring restoration.