Week 5 Reflection and Summary
What a week of wrestling, reunions, and rest! We've watched Jacob wrestle with God and reconcile with Esau, sat with David through his darkest psalm and his most beloved one, and listened to Jesus teach us to pray, to love our neighbour, and to trust our Father rather than worry. If you've fallen behind, the weekend is your chance to catch up. And if you're on track, take a moment to thank God for the privilege of spending time in His Word this week.
Old Testament: Genesis 31-37
This week's Genesis readings carried us through the second half of Jacob's story - from his tense parting with Laban, through his night of wrestling with God, to his emotional reunion with Esau, the horror of chapter 34, and finally his return to Bethel to worship. The big idea running through it all is that God keeps working on flawed, fearful people until they become the men He calls them to be. Jacob leaves Haran a schemer and arrives at Bethel a worshipper - and by the end of the week, we're watching his son Joseph's story begin too.
Reflection question: Where are you God currently "wrestling" with God, refusing to let go until He blesses you?
Poetry: Psalms 20-23
These four psalms took us from a blessing prayed over a king, to David's confident trust from the throne, to the anguished cry of Psalm 22 - which so powerfully foreshadows Christ on the cross - and finally to the quiet comfort of Psalm 23, perhaps the best-loved psalm of all. Together they remind us that our God is present in triumph, in trust, in suffering, and in rest. There is no place David goes that God is not already there with him.
Reflection question: Which of these four psalms best describes where you are with God this week - triumph, trust, suffering, or rest?
New Testament: Luke 10:1-12:34
Luke's gospel took us deep into Jesus' teaching this week - the sending of the seventy-two, the good Samaritan, Mary and Martha, the Lord's Prayer, the woes against the Pharisees, and Jesus' call to fear God rather than people and to store up treasure in heaven rather than worry. The thread running through all of it is that Jesus is reordering our priorities - away from self-protection, self-righteousness, and self-reliance, and towards love, humility, and trust in our Father.
Reflection question: Of everything Jesus taught this week, what is the one thing He is asking you to reorder in your own life?
A Prayer for the Weekend
🙏 Lord, thank You for this fifth week in Your Word. Thank You that You wrestle with us and bless us, that You hear our darkest cries and lead us as our Shepherd, and that Your Son teaches us to pray, to love our neighbour, and to trust You above all else. As we rest this weekend, settle our hearts in Your goodness and mercy. Amen.
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