Little Choices Mean A Lot

As I've mentioned, we're reading through the Bible using a chronological plan right now. It had me thinking yesterday in a psychological bent. I don't suppose I've ever put these events together before. I like that about the Bible. Every time you read it, it gives you something new to ponder.

Yesterday, we read about Jacob and his family. He had just made nice with Esau again and was traveling at a slower pace when he came to one area that he thought they might settle in. The nearby town was welcoming but then a series of events led to Jacob's sons sneaking in at night and killing everyone in the town then plundering it (Genesis 34). It was as a result of this, that Jacob decided they had to get out of there so they took off in a rushed way and headed for another place stopping once. Along the way, Rachel (the beloved wife but NOT the mother of the sons who attacked the town) went into labor and died in childbirth (Genesis 35: 16). It is a fairly familiar story to most Bible readers.

What I was thinking about yesterday (and discussing with the Chick) was how that might have been the beginning or at least played a part in what eventually happened between Joseph (Rachel's first son) and his brothers -- beginning in Genesis 37. I can't imagine how I would feel if I knew that I had been the direct cause of forcing our family to move so quickly that someone died. And not just anyone, but the love of my father's life.

I have always believed that date was chosen for you when you came to be. I feel that it doesn't matter what a person is doing when that time comes, it will be your turn to go. Taking better care of ourselves just means we'll be more likely to be doing something we enjoy and that our life will be more pleasant but I don't think it extends that day any.

So I really can't believe that their actions caused her to die.

But, as young boys, I bet the thought might have occurred to them. It wouldn't surprise me if they had suffered under a huge burden of guilt even. And when that guilt had festered, it could become bitterness or anger or something else entirely. Pile on Joseph's dreams and the obvious favoritism from the father they hurt and angered constantly, you can see the thread that reaches from one thing to another.

For the first time, I kind of feel a pity or sadness for those brothers. I usually feel for them at the end of the story but I can see now how they might have been hurting for a while. Of course, that's all my supposing. But it makes more sense to me in that context how they could have come to hate what little Joseph represented.

It makes me aware of how great a fire can start from just a little spark. Or a choice. If you go back even further, all of this really began with Laban -- the father of Leah and Rachel -- when he made a choice to deceive Jacob into marrying Leah first. I wonder who Leah might have been married to eventually and if her life would have been nicer. Take it back even further and Jacob chose to deceive his father into giving him God's blessing over his brother, Esau. What a line of heartache.

All those little choices. Leading to big consequences and stretching over generations. It makes me wonder what little choice I make today that might do the same. It makes me want to curl up somewhere and not make any. But, of course, that would be making a choice too.

The only way I can think to do it is to make each choice for God's way and trust that He'll make it okay. Like He did for Joseph.