Jacob's Prosperity in the Service of Laban

    Jacob had a hard service and a rigorous master. If he is to grow rich, it will not be from a great dowry, nor the generosity of Laban. He can have nothing but what he earns. Yet God did not forsake him; and his Providence made him wealthy in the land of his servitude. And it is remarkable, that even in the extraordinary way in which he was enriched, every thing was done not by immediate miracle, but in the way of Providence. God took the possessions of Laban, and he gave them to Jacob; but he did it indirectly, and by the use of certain means to which his Providence gave effect. God could have commanded Laban to give Jacob what he saw fit. He could have given Jacob wealth without touching or diminishing the property of Laban. But in a way of Providence he transferred a considerable proportion of the property of Laban to Jacob as wages for service. And may we not see here a shadow of the kingdom given to Christ by his Father, on account of his hard service? And what was Jacob's was also the property of his wives and children. In like manner, believers are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

    This fact affords us a key to open to us the Providence of God, in conferring wealth, or in diminishing possessions. Whatever may be the means by which prosperity and adversity are brought about, they are in all instances the work of Providence. Divine Providence, indeed, is as much concerned in the prosperity of the wicked as in that of the righteous; and in every instance in which it occurs, the God of Providence has a design in it. In like manner, the poverty or adversity of the people of God is as much overruled by the hand of Providence as is their prosperity. Men of God ought to see his hand in their gains and in their losses; in their prosperity and in their adversity.