As our pastor pointed out a couple of weeks ago, Jacob had a way of finding himself “between a rock and a hard place.” Plan A isn’t really all that good, Plan B’s not much better. Can’t stay . . . but going looks fraught with issues, as well. Time to leave the land of his uncle Laban and return to the land of his father, Isaac. He had lost favor with Laban . . . and Laban’s sons are seeing their inheritance go up in smoke as Jacob’s flocks increased. Getting a little tense around there. But going home might not be so good either. There awaited the brother whose birthright Jacob had extorted and whose blessing he had scammed. How would Esau react to his return? A rock and a hard place.

But God said, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you” (Gen. 31:3). And so Jacob packed up and went.

But as you read Genesis 32 . . . as Jacob resides in no man’s land, having left the land of Laban but not yet back in the land of Esau . . . the tension mounts. Jacob sends messengers to Esau to give him a heads up . . . “Hey! Guess who’s back?” And the messengers return, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him” (32:6). Yikes! This can’t be good! Esau and four hundred of his closest friends were coming! Jacob’s not thinking a “welcome home” party . . . he’s thinking more like a raiding party.

So what do you do? Even though you know you can’t stay. Even though you’re pretty sure God said, Go. What’s seems to be in front of you is looking just as uncertain, or worse, than what you left behind you. How do you keep on keepin’ on?

Grace and a promise. You remember God’s grace . . . you cling to God’s promise.

As Jacob’s mind races as to how to best mitigate the imagined worst case scenario, he does the only really concrete thing he can do . . . he prays. And as he humbles himself before the Lord, clarity comes as it has never come before. Jacob, the schemer . . . Jacob, the guy who makes things happen . . . Jacob, the “self-made man” acknowledges that all he is and has is by the unmerited favor of His God.

I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that You have shown to Your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.
(Genesis 32:10 ESV)

And Jacob comes to the same realization that Isaac Watts would have millennia later . . . ” ‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” Recognizing the always present favor of God . . . acknowledging His unmerited steadfast love and abiding faithfulness . . . remembering His grace . . . it has a way of compelling one forward.

And then, Jacob remembers the promise.

But You said, “I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”    (Genesis 32:12 ESV)

And Jacob believes the promise . . . by faith, he clings to what God has said . . . the land before him, by God’s sovereign determination, is to be his land. And so, he keeps going.

Grace and a promise.  And our God.  The God who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us as the source of abundant grace, and the surety of His unfailing promise. I guess that’s how we keep on keepin’ on.

Amen?