God is Still God

Good morning, everyone! My name is Matt Martinez, and I am the pastor here at Renovation Church Shoreview.

I have this tendency to believe when things are going well, it was the result of my intelligence, my decision-making, my wisdom and skill.

But when life begins to not work the way I think it should, everything changes.

Suddenly I wonder where God is. I feel alone. I ask why He isn't fixing my problems. If He would just make everything better, then I could get back to living the life I want.

Those sound like opposite responses, but they're actually the same problem. I've built a kingdom where I'm the king. God is welcome to bless it, rescue it, fix what's broken. But I'm still the one calling the shots.

If you're honest, we’ve all built personal kingdoms. Maybe it's a career. A family. A relationship. A body that looks a certain way. It's yours, and God's invited in — as long as He plays by your rules.

And that's the problem. God didn't come to improve my kingdom. He came to invite me into His. Because my kingdom can never give me what I'm actually looking for. Only the Kingdom of Christ can.

In today's passage, Jacob is about to discover that no matter what he's built, God is still working behind the scenes toward something better than Jacob could have planned. That's our hope too — whether things go our way or not, God is still working.

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 30:25-31:21. If you are using the Renovation Church Bibles under your chair, you can turn to page 21.

Jacob has now worked for Laban for fourteen years. He came here to escape his brother Esau who wants to kill him because Jacob tricked him. While working for his uncle Laban he found not one, but two wives, and a whole lot of family drama.

And after Jacob and his wives had had 12 sons, Jacob finally wants to go back to where he came from.

So now we are going to pick up the story here. We will start reading our passage in Genesis 30; we will start reading where you see the small number 25.

25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. 26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”

27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28 He added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

29 Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. 30 The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?”

31 “What shall I give you?” he asked.

“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 32 Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. 33 And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.”

34 “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. 36 Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.

When They’re Scheming—God Is Still God

My daughter really wants a dog. She's finally given up asking me and moved to a different strategy. I'll walk into her room at bedtime, and as I walk in, she'll start praying: "God, please give us a dog." She knows I have too many ways of saying no — so now she's going over my head.

Life doesn't always go the way we want. Sometimes that's because of someone else's actions.

Laban already tricked Jacob into seven extra years of labor. Now, as Jacob tries to negotiate his wages, Laban twists the deal again. But here's what's remarkable: even Laban — practicing divination, clearly believing in its power — admits that God is the one actually in control.

Laban believes if he can manipulate Jacob enough, he can control the outcome. But that's not how God's world works. Laban keeps scheming against Jacob, but he can't scheme God out of the picture. Man's manipulation doesn't put God out of a job.

Some of you are living with real consequences right now — not from your own decisions, but from someone else's. That may be a hard chapter, but it doesn't have to be the end of the story. Your circumstances don't remove God from your life. He is still at work. He is still bringing redemption. He is still drawing you closer to Himself.

Let’s come back to our passage and I will summarize verses 37-42. This part is one of the strangest sections in Genesis. Jacob peels strips of bark off poplar, almond, and plane branches and sets them near the watering troughs during breeding season. The sheep then give birth to speckled and spotted lambs. Scholars have debated for centuries whether this was superstition, manipulation, or an act of faith.

But take a look at verses 42 and 43.

So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. 43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

When You’re Scheming—God Is Still God

Jacob had a plan. He'd worked out an elaborate breeding scheme, convinced this was his ticket to prosperity after years of Laban cheating him. But the commentator Henry Morris points out that Jacob's arrangement was actually heavily weighted in Laban's favor — historians believe spotted or speckled sheep made up less than 20% of a flock. As Morris puts it, Jacob had put himself entirely at God's mercy, whether he realized it or not.

It's like sports superstitions. My brother puts a jersey on his dog when his team plays — and takes it off the second they start losing. It doesn't change the outcome. It just makes us feel like we've got a hand on the wheel. Jacob's branches were his version of the jersey.

Proverbs 16:9 names what's really going on: The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Look at what verse 43 actually says: "The man became exceedingly prosperous." Notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say Jacob was smarter than Laban, or that he'd cracked some secret technique. It simply gives the result — because the point was never Jacob's strategy. It was God's faithfulness.

But what about when the result goes the other way? When our plans fail, God is not punishing us. Maybe you've been doing everything right, and someone else, who isn't, keeps getting the blessing you're still waiting for. The timing isn't always clear — but whether your plan succeeds or falls apart, your confidence was never supposed to rest in the plan itself.

I don't know what strategy you're leaning on today — your experience, your education, your work ethic. Those are good gifts. Just don't confuse the gift with the Giver. Whether your plans succeed or fall apart, remember this: God is still God.

31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.

3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. 5 He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

10 “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”

14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? 15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. 16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

The final verses of this chapter are of Jacob’s family running away in secret, but not before Rachel (Jacob’s wife) steals her father Laban’s idols and hides them.

When Change Happens—God Is Still God

How many of you like change? How many of you hate it? Our feelings on change usually depend on the kind of change we're experiencing.

By now, Jacob has become incredibly wealthy, just as God promised. But instead of celebrating it, Laban's sons start looking for someone to blame: "Jacob has taken everything our father owned." And Jacob notices Laban's whole attitude toward him has shifted.

Back in chapter 30, Laban said, "I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you." Laban never wanted God — he just wanted what God could give him. So the moment those blessings stopped benefiting him, everything changed. His attitude changed. His family's changed too.

Right in the middle of all that change, God speaks: "Go back to the land of your fathers... and I will be with you." Jacob is about to leave everything he's built over twenty years and walk into complete uncertainty. But he won't walk into it alone.

Jacob tells Rachel and Leah, "Your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me." The people who disappoint us don't get the final word over our lives.

Surprisingly, Rachel and Leah — the two sisters who've spent years manipulating and competing with one another — become the voices of wisdom. They simply tell Jacob, "Do whatever God has told you." Not whatever is most profitable. Not whatever is easiest. Just what God said.

One detail stood out to me in this passage. When God speaks to Jacob, He introduces Himself as "the God of Bethel" — the same place where Jacob woke up alone years earlier and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." Twenty years have passed. Jacob has changed. His family has changed. His possessions have changed. But God is, in effect, saying: "I am still the God of Bethel." People change. Circumstances change. Seasons change. I don't. My promises don’t either.

Maybe someone has deeply disappointed you. Maybe a relationship has changed. Maybe your future feels uncertain. That pain is real. But don't let the changing circumstances around you cause you to question the unchanging character of God. When everything else changes, He remains faithful. God is still God.

Conclusion

It's easy to say we trust God. It's much harder to see what we're actually trusting.

Sometimes it's the deal: If I can just land this opportunity, I'll finally have peace. Sometimes it's the plan: If I can just work harder and figure it out, it'll come together. Sometimes it's people: If this relationship works out, I'll be okay.

Genesis 30 and 31 quietly strip every one of those away from Jacob. The deal isn't fair. The plans don't make sense. The people keep changing. And through it all, one thing doesn't change: God keeps His promise.

That should encourage us — because if God's faithfulness depended on ours, none of us would have any hope. Paul puts it this way: "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy" (Titus 3:5). That's how the Christian life begins. It's also how it continues. You didn't earn your salvation, and you don't earn God's love today. The grace that saved you is the grace that sustains you.

That's what Jacob is finally learning. The greatest blessing was never the flock, the deal, or the success. The greatest blessing was that God was with him — the same promise from Bethel, repeated in Genesis 31, and echoed by Jesus before He ascends: "I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The greatest blessing God can give you isn't a better job, a healthier family, or an easier life. It's Himself.

So this week, when life doesn't go your way — remember where your confidence belongs. It was never in the deal, the plan, or the people. It's always been in Him.

Let's pray.