Sometimes the flood of life can be overwhelming. Have you heard the phrase, "When it rains it pours"?
There have been moments in my life where that certainly felt true. One stressful situation leads to another and it has seemed like I cannot get a good break my way.
The problems just stack one on top of the other until I can hardly bear the weight.
Once the problems have passed, I can hardly remember them and it seems that going through these trials have made me a stronger person as a result.
Jacob may have been feeling the same way in these verses. Although many good blessings have come his way, his twin brother, Esau, has come to his camp with 400 men.
They left each other on unpleasant terms, with Jacob posing as Esau in order to win the blessing of their father, Isaac.
This action left Esau with no birthright and without the blessing of his father, and he swore to kill Jacob.
It brings us to this scene, with Jacob worried about meeting Esau, praying to God saying, "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children." (Gen. 32:11)
He prepares a gift for Esau, hoping that the gift will soften the wound that Jacob inflicted on their relationship. He is eventually left alone, and we can assume he is wracked with stress and unable to sleep,
