Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute? ”
Genesis 34:30-31//

Perhaps the first time in the Bible we learn that two wrongs do not make a right.

Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.” 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. 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. ”
Genesis 33:12-14//

We may be untrustworthy of people we have wronged or we may be ashamed, as it can be awkward and humiliating. But, the Lord’s love reigns in the hearts of all His servants. If forgiveness is to be complete, we must accept that the Lord changes both hearts and minds over time.

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.
Genesis 29:31//

The Lord loves the unloved.

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. ”
Genesis 28:15//

No matter my geographical location or time in history, the Lord is with me and keeps His promises.

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Genesis 27:41//

Grudges are feelings we chose to keep or to let go. The choice is ours.

and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.//After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
Genesis 25:20-21,26//

It may take decades for the Lord to answer our prayers.

The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from? ” “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’ —he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.
Genesis 24:5-7//

The Lord sends us on a way to a foreign land. He sends His angel ahead of us to prepare the way, and will provide people to come live with us when we need them.

He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you. ”
Genesis 22:5//

Notice the pronounce “we.” Abraham was told to sacrifice his son, but his faith made him know that both of them would return. He didn’t know when, where, or how, but he knew God was faithful to those who are faithful to Him.

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
Genesis 21:17//

Despite my sinfulness, God hears the cry of my children and my children’s children.

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again,
Genesis 20:17//

Intercessory prayer can be just as powerful or more than when I simply pray for my own family.