Life is not Against You.
This man knew the true meaning of struggle and hustle. He fought his way all through life until this point. To borrow from what Sophia said in The Color Purple, " All his life, he had to fight." From the womb, he fought his brother to secure a blessing that some theologians said he may not have needed. Subsequently, he wrestled with what some described as a theophanic image of Jesus in the Old Testament. He wrestled so hard that the personality he fought wounded him on the hollow of his thigh, yet Jacob did not stop fighting until he got a blessing. So was his desperation. Then he fought his Sherlock employer, who happens to be a relative. Same employer and uncle who had earlier deceived him in one of the first biblical instances of what I ordered vs. what I got. He ordered for Racheal, but he got Leah. Could it be like they said: In relationships, you want them beautifully sculpted in places that matter to you, but they come as any tribal demon you know? He did not stop fighting. Then, on his way out of the biggest corporate greed of Laban, the only woman he loved died. I mean, the woman he worked for 14 years died. I mean, how could this happen? Why does what we love die? But this man wept, buried her by the roadside, and kept going.
Then the first child (Joseph) of his late wife, whom he loved, was allegedly dead, killed by a lion, and this guy thought it was finished, but then he encouraged himself and, like PoP said, strength what remained the second son(Benjamin) of his late wife. Then, in a famine, he sent his sons to buy bread in Egypt, and they returned to say that the other boy(Benjamin) was kept behind for the allegation they were spies. At this moment, Jacob uttered words that seemed glossed over by many preachers. Jacob said, "All these things are against me." (Genesis 42:36 KJV).
I learned under challenging circumstances after my sister-mum passed that you don't need an accountant to help you balance your life account. When you create a debit and credit ledger, your conclusion may, at some point, not be different from Jacob's. Sometimes, your valleys flash like a movie in the theater of your mind, and you think, maybe life is against you. What I know is that most people, at one point or another, often ask this question. Is life against me? Am I cursed? At a point in 2021 and still some days, I wondered, is life against me? Someone said to me that when sister-mum passed, she told God, "Not Rosemary again; this girl has had enough."
However, in a few verses and chapters later, Jacob learns that life was not against him. That time sometimes makes everything alright; if it does not, God remains faithful.
Recently, I have started documenting my victories, not just my valleys. I started declaring to myself that my race, nationality, gender, background, and qualifications were not against me. I know hope has become an abused word for doing nothing while expecting something, but it is still a word I love because my text told me I have been begotten to a lively hope. (1 Peter 1:3-4.) More so, as I think of Jacob and the story of a young child born into a manger whose small beginning did not hinder his greatness. The man who is the reason for the season, I started to tell myself:
What if life is working for you and not against you?
What if the story of your life is just beginning, not ending?
What if your circumstances are lying to you?
What if God, life, and your ancestors have more victories ahead than the valley behind or currently before you?
Maybe you had so many expectations for the year, but they did not materialize, and inwardly, you are sad, but outwardly, you are joyful, and you are asking or making comments like Jacob, could you consider that what if life is not against you?
Ntozake Shange posits that for us colored women, "in the midst and fog of life, find your way to the rainbow by the sound of your own voice." By the sound of your own voice, you may begin that inner self talk i do that life is not against me
Merry Christmas Eve, people!
Happy Holiday!
Posted on Facebook on December 24, 2023Image used under @ Creative common. Photo credit: Google
