LIFE SCRIPTS

1 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. 2 He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. 5 Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked. Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. 7 Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down. 8 Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?” “To find favor in your eyes, my Lord,” he said. 9 But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.” 10 “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. 11 Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. 12 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.” 13 But Jacob said to him, “My Lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14 So let my Lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my Lord in Seir.” 15 Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.” “But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my Lord.” 16 So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. 17 Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.
Genesis 33:1‭-‬17 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.33.1-17.NIV.

Jacob meeting Esau was long time coming. The trickster of a brother was now meeting the one he had tricked and escaped from. Remember the state at which Jacob fled to Padan Aram. Contrast that to the way he was now meeting with his brother Esau. Jacob was definitely not proud of his past actions and this made him uneasy before Esau. At first when he sighted Esau and four hundred men, he thought that his intention was revenge. However that wasn’t the case. Esau seemed to have a heart of reconnection with his long lost brother. Jacob had submitted himself to Jehovah and now God was leading him and straightening his paths. But most importantly, it is God’s intention that families reunite. There is a unique hunger God gives family members towards each other especially when they’re estranged from each other. It doesn’t matter what circumstances led to them going separate ways, God’s intention is that families reunite…brothers reconcile; sisters embrace each other. Jacob’s reconnection to Esau mirrors some of our situations in our families. What Jacob feared, God used to bring unity and reconciliation in the family. At times, God wants to use the situations we fear most to reconcile us to others. Meeting those we’ve wronged or trying to mend burnt bridges is not easy. However, God uses such situations of genuine reconciliation to demonstrate His will over our lives. In Psalms 133, scripture reminds us that God ‘…commands a blessing on the unity of brethren’. So today God calls us to reconcile with those we’ve wronged. Its interesting how a nation with a small economy like Rwanda is such a promising success story in the midst of disorganized States. One reason is because the Rwandese people chose to genuinely reconcile and forgive each other after the genocide of 1994 and ultimately God blessed them. These are not only lessons to be applied at a personal but at a national level too.