Laban's Empty Nest - Thursday April 30, 2015
Laban answered Jacob, "The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine." Genesis 31:43 NIV
You've heard of parents who can't let go when their kids go to college. They call five times a day to check on them. They lash out angrily over decisions the kids are making. They long for past days of chicks being close, under wing.
Laban couldn't let go. He kept Jacob on a string for twenty years. First he made Jacob work seven years to earn the right to marry Rachel. With Leah thrown in, it became fourteen! Then came years of work under Laban's ruse of giving Jacob some animals for wages. Laban had an empty nest problem. He didn't want it to empty!
Jacob and his family finally made their escape, but Laban chased them down. When he caught up to Jacob, his heart was revealed: The daughters are mine! The children are mine! The flocks are mine!
Mine! Mine! Mine! Laban had never accepted that he was a steward of God's gifts, not an owner. Daughters were given to him, but not forever. Grandchildren were in his home, but not forever. The Lord wanted to use Laban to help raise these precious children, but Laban was to be their helper in life, not the owner of their souls.
A good time to release children is at birth. And if it wasn't done then, then now is the time. Thank the Lord for the privilege of nurturing His little children and ask Him for help. Then when the day comes to release them, your nest will be full of good memories, not full of clutching. Trust that a perfect Father owns your precious ones!
Submitted by:
Rita Bergen
Cornerstone Community Church
Overland Park, Kansas
One-Year Reading Plan:
Judges 11:-1-12:15
John 1:1-28
Psalms 101:1-8
Proverbs 14:13-14
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.