Genesis 29:1-5: a reflection

1Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. 2He looked, and saw a well in the field, and saw three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well’s mouth was large. 3There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone back on the well’s mouth in its place. 4Jacob said to them, “My relatives, where are you from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” 5He said to them, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.”

As Jacob journeys to a far country, alone and uncertain, he comes to a well in a field and there meets shepherds who happen to know the very man he is seeking, his relative Laban. Jacob came to the land of the children of the east, the account says, and saw a well in the field; and he asked the shepherds, do you know Laban? and they said, we know him. Jacob, a lone traveler in an unfamiliar land, arrives at just the right place, and finds people who know exactly the family he is looking for. What might look like chance is in fact God's quiet providence, guiding Jacob's steps to where he needed to be. This shows that God guides our steps, even in ordinary journeys, by his quiet providence. God guides our steps by his quiet providence. Even ordinary journeys are under God's guidance. What looks like chance can be God's providence at work. God led Jacob to the right place at the right time.

Notice how God's providence works in this ordinary scene. Jacob is far from home, alone, journeying into an unfamiliar land toward relatives he has never met. He comes to a well, an ordinary place, and finds shepherds there, and they happen to know Laban, the very man he is seeking. There is nothing dramatic here, no miracle, no vision; just a traveler arriving at a well and meeting people who can help him. And yet, behind this ordinary scene, God is quietly at work, guiding Jacob's steps to just the right place, bringing him to those who could lead him to his family. This is how God's providence often works: not usually in dramatic interventions, but quietly, behind the ordinary events and encounters of our journeys, guiding our steps to where we need to be. We can look at the ordinary turns of our own lives, the places we arrive, the people we happen to meet, as mere chance; but God is often quietly at work in them, guiding our steps by his providence. We can trust that God guides our steps, even in the ordinary and seemingly chance events of our journeys. God quietly guides our steps through ordinary events. What seems like chance is often God's providence. God is at work in the ordinary turns of our lives. Trust God to guide your steps, even in the ordinary.

That is worth resting in, for God guides our steps by his quiet providence, even in the ordinary journeys and encounters of our lives, as he guided Jacob to the right well and the right people. We can see the ordinary turns of our lives, the places we arrive and the people we meet, as mere chance; but God quietly guided Jacob, a lone traveler in a strange land, to a well where he found those who knew the very family he sought. God is at work behind the ordinary. When your path seems to turn by chance, remember that God may be quietly guiding your steps. Rest in the truth that God guides our steps by his quiet providence, even in the ordinary journeys and encounters of our lives, as Jacob, journeying alone into an unfamiliar land toward relatives he had never met, came to a well in a field and found shepherds who happened to know Laban, the very man he was seeking; for there was nothing dramatic in the scene, no miracle or vision, just a traveler arriving at a well and meeting people who could help him, and yet behind this ordinary scene God was quietly at work, guiding Jacob's steps to just the right place and bringing him to those who could lead him to his family, which is how God's providence often works, not usually in dramatic interventions but quietly, behind the ordinary events and encounters of our journeys, guiding our steps to where we need to be, so that we can look at the ordinary turns of our own lives, the places we arrive and the people we happen to meet, not as mere chance but as often the quiet working of God's providence, and trust that God guides our steps even in the ordinary and seemingly chance events of our lives.

Lord, as Jacob journeys to a far country, alone and uncertain, he comes to a well in a field and there meets shepherds who happen to know the very man he is seeking, his relative Laban. Jacob came to the land of the children of the east, the account says, and saw a well in the field; and he asked the shepherds, do you know Laban? and they said, we know him. Jacob, a lone traveler in an unfamiliar land, arrives at just the right place, and finds people who know exactly the family he is looking for. What might look like chance is in fact your quiet providence, guiding Jacob's steps to where he needed to be. Show me how your providence works in this ordinary scene. Jacob is far from home, alone, journeying toward relatives he has never met. He comes to a well, an ordinary place, and finds shepherds there who happen to know the very man he is seeking. There is nothing dramatic here, no miracle, no vision; just a traveler arriving at a well and meeting people who can help him. And yet, behind this ordinary scene, you are quietly at work, guiding his steps to just the right place. This is how your providence often works: not usually in dramatic interventions, but quietly, behind the ordinary events and encounters of our journeys. I can look at the ordinary turns of my own life, the places I arrive, the people I happen to meet, as mere chance; but you are often quietly at work in them, guiding my steps. Take that to my heart, for you guide my steps by your quiet providence, even in the ordinary journeys and encounters of my life. When my path seems to turn by chance, help me remember that you may be quietly guiding my steps, Lord, as you guided Jacob to the right well and the right people, and to trust you in the ordinary turns of my life.