SEEING GOD'S SMILE. By Pastor Fernando

Scripture
… Jacob said, “for what a relief is to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the smile of God!” Genesis 33:10

Observation
The intensity of the sibling rivalry between Esau and Jacob came to a point where their relationship was completely destroyed. After Jacob stole Esau’s blessing, Esau sought to kill Jacob. So Jacob ran away from him. 20 years later, God instructs Jacob to return home; but Esau’s camp is on the way. In order to obey God, Jacob has to face his brother, not knowing of the consequences. He is afraid of the confrontation and he tries to appease Esau with presents—many of them. The only comfort Jacob has is God’s promise of blessing and protection for him and his descendants. He obeys and trusts God for a miracle—to be protected from the rage of his brother. And even though he has faith, Jacob expects the worse! But God does the miracle and gives him favor with Esau. Instead of a foe, Esau became a friend. Instead of seeing rage in his brother’s face, Jacob saw a smile. This was refreshing, as if he was seeing the smile of God! And Jacob knows a lot about God’s face because he saw it. The night before, Jacob saw God at Peniel and he said, “I’ve seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” Jacob saw the similarities between his encounter with God and his encounter with Esau. Jacob found God’s smile in the midst of the reconciliation with his brother and in the forgiveness of past offenses. What a wonderful thing to see when two brothers are reconciled, it’s like seeing God’s smile!

Application
Many times God will call us into a new place where we need to pass by an unresolved situation of past offenses and unforgiveness. Maybe Esau already forgave Jacob, but in order to experience restoration, they needed closure and speak that forgiveness to one another. Jacob is wise and shows his heart with valuable presents! He is humble before his brother—he calls himself “servant” and refers to his brother as “master.” This is Jacob’s way to say, “I’m sorry brother, I want to repay you for what I did to you.” And this works! When we set our hearts to seek reconciliation from past offenses God will help us and protect us.

Many times we continue living our days with unresolved broken relationships. Sometimes we still carry past offenses and we haven’t forgiven the offender. And sometimes, we forgive past offenses, but we never express that forgiveness. We need to learn that God smiles when reconciliation happens between people. God loves peacemaking. And we, God’s children, should be very intentional in making God’s smile. Because when we see our brother looking at us with a smile, we will see God’s smiling to us. There’s nothing more refreshing than knowing God smiles when he sees me working hard in forgiving past offenses and in restoring those I offended in the past.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for directing me into places where I must deal with unresolved broken relationships. Please help me to trust you when facing people I offended in the past. Let me be humble before them, willing to ask forgiveness, and eager to give restitution for the hurts I caused. Let me follow Jacob’s example of trust and humility. Also, let me be gracious when encountering those who have offended me in the past. Let me express my forgiveness to them, so they do not live wondering if I forgave them or not! Let me smile over them and let them smile over me. In that way, we will see your smile over us and we will give you glory and praise with our lives! Let me be a peacemaker and one of those children that bring a smile on your face often. Amen!