阅读经文 

惧怕在我们的生活中是一股强大的力量。在雅各的大半生当中，他都试图成为一个能掌控局面的人，一个靠自己走出一切困境的人。在他成功应付了最近与拉班的尴尬遭遇后，我们可能认为他对自己的能力很有信心。

然而现在有情报说，他的哥哥以扫带着400人（一支军队？）来见他，雅各吓坏了。他还能做什么来救自己呢？我们第一次听到他绝望的呼求，他知道若没有神的帮助和能力，自己什么也做不了。

我们常常以为我们有资源来处理任何可能出现在我们面前的问题。也许，我们甚至会说，自己全然倚靠神的能力，但我们常常活得好像自己的努力和学识才是真正重要的。

当我们面对自己无法掌控的处境，我们才意识到，我们不能救自己脱离最深的惧怕。我们无法保持健康，我们无法挽回自己的名誉，我们无法调解破裂的关系。我们无法救自己脱离罪。我们惟有倚靠神的恩典和大能。

你已经到了绝望呼求的地步了吗？和惧怕相比，神在基督里的恩典更强大。赞美神的奇妙恩典！

Fear can be a powerful force in our lives. For much of his life, Jacob had tried to act as a person in control, someone who could figure his way out of any hard place. After he successfully navigated his recent awkward encounter with Laban, we might think he would have felt confident in his abilities.

But now, as reports suggested that Esau, his brother, was coming to meet him with 400 men (an army?), Jacob was terrified. What more could he do to save himself? For the first time, we hear him praying the desperate prayer of a man who knows he can do nothing apart from God's help and power.

We often imagine that we have the resources to deal with any problem that might come our way. Perhaps we even say that we depend wholly on God's power, but we so often live as if our efforts and our know-how are what really matter.

When we face a situation we cannot control, we realize that we cannot rescue ourselves from our deepest fears. We cannot preserve our health. We cannot redeem our reputation. We cannot reconcile our broken relationships. We cannot save ourselves from our sin. We can depend only on the grace and power of God.

Have you come to the point of desperate prayer? As powerful as fear is, God's grace in Christ is far more powerful. Praise God for his amazing grace!