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Have you ever had a week in which you experienced some dreams coming true? Perhaps you can recall a week in your life in which you experienced a friend or a loved one coming to Christ, or at least showing some visible interest in the gospel. You may recall a week in which the dream of a reconciled relationship came true. Or perhaps you can call to mind a week in which you experienced the dream of a better financial situation, a promotion at your workplace, or some meaningful recognition in your company. I trust that we can all testify to weeks in which we have experienced an increasing victory over sin and a deeper walk with and knowledge of the Lord.

On the other hand, we could doubtless all testify to weeks in our life that were more of a nightmare than a dream. Perhaps you can vividly recall the pregnancy test coming back negative, or receiving the infamous pink slip from your employer. Or perhaps you recall a time when you received an alarming diagnosis from your doctor. There may have been a nightmarish week in which your marriage went from good to bad, or from bad to worse, or some other important relationship quickly soured. Or perhaps your quest to overcome a particular sin found you sprawled like a fallen boxer as the world, the flesh and the devil jubilantly stood over you, mocking you in your defeat. Yes, perhaps your dreams have become a nightmare.

Believer, if that is your testimony, I would encourage you to read on, for the words that follow are precisely for you! I trust that this study will encourage you that you are not alone, you have not been abandoned; you have not been forgotten or forsaken.

Jacob experienced this very same dramatic shift. His dream of Genesis 28 turned into the nightmare of Genesis 29. And yet this nightmare was part and parcel of God bringing the dream to fulfilment. And I daresay that your nightmare, believer, is also a divinely orchestrated part of God’s dream for you. You can, you must, keep dreaming. All you really need is some rest, some sleep. May you find the path to this rest in Genesis 29.

A Promising Departure

As the 29th chapter of Genesis opens, we see Jacob set out from Bethel on what appears to be a promising journey. Indeed, this forms an illuminating picture of the beginning of the Christian walk: “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east” (v. 1).

The verse begins with a word that establishes the timing of Jacob’s departure: “Then.” The word is to be understood in the context of the preceding chapter. In chapter 28, Jacob had a wonderful dream and made a powerful declaration that he would indeed serve the Lord. The promise initially given to Abraham and Isaac was reiterated to him; and it was at that time that Jacob acknowledged Yahweh as his God.

After these things, “Jacob went on his journey.” This phrase (“went on his journey”) literally means “lifted up his feet.” The picture is of Jacob being on the proverbial cloud nine. Of course, you can understand his heightened emotions in light of the promise he had been given from Yahweh: a wife, a seed, a land, etc. The future seemed as bright as the promises of God. The dream was fresh. The ladder was profoundly real. His life was starting to make sense. His expectations were great and his determination unstoppable. He knew that God loved him, and that he loved God. “Christianity is wonderful,” he must have thought. “I must be okay.”

In fact, I wonder if he was perhaps thinking that he had gotten away with his deceitfulness. After all, God gave him some wonderful promises, without breathing a word in rebuke of his scheming ways. “It looks like it paid off after all!” he perhaps muttered in excitement. “In light of what I’ve just been promised, I guess I’m off the hook for my deception. God did not even mention it; I must be okay. All my troubles are behind me.”

What he did not realise is that God loved him too much to leave him as he was. Change had to take place, and in order for this change to occur, his dream had to become a nightmare. Little did he realise what lay ahead. In the next twenty years, he would acquire four wives, when he in fact only wanted (and only should have had) one. He would be deceived by his own family, and by the time he would return to his home, he would find that his beloved mother had died. But all of that was in the yet unknown future; as he left Bethel, everything seemed rosy, and it was soon to get even better.

A Providential Discovery

As Jacob reaches his destination, the dream seems to be getting even better. Indeed, it seems that God’s promises are quickly coming to pass.

And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep. And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.

(Genesis 29:2-12)

Bear in mind that Jacob had been sent by his parents to Haran in order to find a wife (27:46-28:2). As he entered Haran, “he looked, and behold a well.” This is an emphatic statement, and it surely is meant to remind us of the record in Genesis 24, where Abraham’s servant had secured Rebekah as a wife for Isaac. It might not be too much to imagine that this is the very same well. Doubtless, he knew the story of how his grandfather’s servant had met his mother at a well, and so it was perhaps significant for him to spot this well as he entered the land. And having sighted the well, Jacob meets two distinct groups of people.

The Lazy Loiterers

Jacob first encounters a group of lazy shepherds, who had arrived at the well somewhat earlier than normal, and were simply waiting for more shepherds to arrive in order to do their job.

And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.

(Genesis 29:2-8)

As one commentator noted, these shepherds came “early to the well, early to sleep.” The text informs us that the shepherds normally gathered at the well in the late afternoon, at which time there was a combined effort to roll away the stone from the well of the mouth and to water the flocks. These shepherds, however, had come mid afternoon, and took the opportunity to laze in the warm Middle Eastern sun, awaiting the arrival of their fellow shepherds.

The shepherds, in fact, are not even interested enough in the stranger to initiate conversation. Instead, Jacob begins the encounter, “My brethren, whence be ye?” The simple reply comes, “Of Haran are we.” Jacob presses further: “Know we Laban the son of Nahor?” Big conversationalists that they are, the shepherds reply, “We know him.” Jacob, however, wants to know more, and so he continues with his questions: “Is he well?” Another short answer is forthcoming: “He is well.” But then, before Jacob can press any further, perhaps with great relief, the shepherds notice Rachel, Laban’s daughter, making her way to the well with her sheep. Hurriedly, they add, “And, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.”

We can almost picture these shepherds muttering their replies to Jacob’s questions in frustration, wishing that he would leave them alone. Perhaps as they are thinking, “How can we get rid of him?” one of them looks up and sees Rachel in the distance. Relieved, they turn Jacob’s attention to Rachel: “Here comes Laban’s daughter: go pester her with your questions.”

As Jacob casts his eyes upon Rachel, he suddenly begins dishing out shepherding advice. Turning again to the loiterers, he says, “Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.” In other words, “Rather than lazing around at the well all day, why not give your flocks their water and then take them to the pastures to graze?” It seems that Jacob was eager to spend some time alone with Rachel, and thus he was trying to get the shepherds to move on. But the shepherds are quick to object: “We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.” To paraphrase: “Are you mad? Have you seen the size of that boulder at the well’s mouth? We can’t roll it away! We have to wait until all the shepherds have arrived, and then we will be able to roll the stone away and water our flocks. In the meantime, leave us alone to rest.”

The Lovely Lady

But the second group–actually, an individual–whom Jacob encounters is Rachel with her sheep. The focus now shifts from the lazy shepherds to a lovely shepherdess.

And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.

(Genesis 29:9-12)

Bear in mind that Rachel had never met Jacob, and thus the encounter in these verses was effectively between two complete strangers.

Jacob is sometimes pictured as something of a weak mommy’s boy. After all, he was the one who dwelled in tents, while his brother was the hunter in the family. This text, however, should quickly put to bed any such notions that we have of Jacob. Remember that at least three lazy shepherds (for there were three flocks of sheep, v. 2) objected that they could not move the stone away from the well, but had to wait for more help in order to do so. But “when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother … Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.” Don’t miss that: Jacob did singlehandedly what at least three rugged shepherds claimed was impossible to them as a combined effort! Adrenaline coursing through his veins at the sight of Rachel, Jacob heaved a massive boulder aside and chivalrously aided her in her work. Indeed, this providential discovery brought out the best in Jacob.

Having watered the sheep for a doubtless astonished shepherdess, “Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.” (Again, bear in mind that Rachel had never met Jacob.) Having done so, “Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.” (As an interesting aside, this is the only case in Scripture of a man kissing a woman who is not his wife or his mother. And, importantly, she immediately ran to tell her father!)

Jacob’s excitement can almost be felt at this point. Things are panning out beautifully; the dream is quickly coming to pass. Had God not promised him a wife and, subsequently, a seed? Things were speeding their way to fulfilment: it just couldn’t get any better! “Indeed,” he perhaps thought, “God is in this pace! He is orchestrating events between heaven and earth. I have found my wife, and soon I will have a multiplying and conquering seed.” Following God seemed to be an easy matter, and perhaps Jacob imagined that everyone should thus do it. But the rude awakening was still coming.

Have you ever been in Jacob’s shoes? Do you remember those months following your salvation? Everything seemed rosy, and following God was not as tough as you might have imagined. Perhaps you can recall a time of great spiritual blessing or victory, at which point you were on cloud nine. Surely we should praise God for His providence in those times, but let us also understand that the bed of roses is not without thorns. Indeed, dreams sometimes become nightmares as God fashions us into the people he wants us to be. And that is what Jacob will soon learn.

A Profitable Deal

In vv. 13-20, the nightmare is on the horizon as Laban seizes an opportunity to make what turns out to be a profitable deal for him.

And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month. And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

(Genesis 29:13-20)

Laban was Rebekah’s brother and thus Laban’s uncle. We first meet him in chapter 24, when he met Abraham’s servant at the well. It was Laban who first ran to the well to meet the servant when Rebekah had informed her family of what happened at the well. He had seen the riches that the servant carried with him and had immediately realised that the proposed marriage was financially profitable for the family.

Doubtless, when Rachel told her father that she had met Jacob, who was Rebekah’s son, Laban immediately thought that this was a good opportunity to acquire some more wealth. How disappointed he must have been to find Jacob not garnished with gifts as Abraham’s servant had been so many years prior to this! Nevertheless, he welcomed Jacob into his home and listened patiently as Jacob repeated the whole story to him. He embraced Jacob as family–perhaps somewhat reluctantly, according to Hebrew scholars–and allowed him to stay there for a month.

For that entire month, Jacob remained in Laban’s house; and I would imagine that Laban spent the time in frustration, wondering what he could possibly get out of Jacob. At the end of that month, he finally approached his nephew: “Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?” It is significant in the first place that Laban hadn’t remunerated Jacob for the month’s service that Jacob had offered, but now we sense that Laban is going to try to get more than just free labour from him.

The Bible now prepares us for the nightmare to follow: “And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.” There have been all sorts of interpretations of Leah’s description as “tender eyed.” Some have insisted that she was weak or sickly, but there is no textual evidence for this. The term might simply indicate that she had beautiful eyes. There is no doubt, on the other hand, as to Rachel’s appearance: she was “beautiful and well favoured.” Literally, this means that she was both beautiful and well-figured. Whatever we can surmise about Leah, it is clear that Rachel was the better looking of the two.

“Jacob loved Rachel.” It was probably love at first sight, and it was a love that would last until death. Jacob expresses his desire in no uncertain terms: “I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.” A dowry in those days was ordinarily around two or three years’ wages, but Jacob offers seven years’ unpaid labour as dowry for Rachel. Perhaps he expected Laban to reduce the number of years, but it was an offer that Laban could not refuse, and he immediately accepted it: “It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.” In a most beautiful description, Scripture tells us that “Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” The time flew, for the reward was more than worth the price.

We should perhaps note in passing the difference between this romance and the kind of romance we often see today. Today’s romance is about instant gratification, but Jacob’s love was true, for it was patient. Seven years he spent labouring and waiting for his bride. It was clearly a profitable deal for Laban, though Jacob clearly believed that it was profitable for him too.

A Perverse Deception

Now, the deceiver is deceived. In a single night, his seven-year dream becomes a nightmare.

And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

(Genesis 29:21-29)

It seems perhaps that Laban was a little slow in meeting his end of the bargain, for Jacob’s words–“Give me my wife”–are emphatic. Perhaps he was trying to see how long he could milk the situation, how much more labour he could get out of Jacob before he was forced to give away his daughter. “My days are fulfilled,” Jacob reminds his father-in-law to be. The contract had been fulfilled, and Laban really had little choice but to plan the wedding feast.

In the ancient Near East, the wedding ceremony lasted for a week. On the first night, the wedding was consummated, and then it was celebrated for the remainder of the week. Throughout the actual wedding day, the bride remained veiled, and the father of the bride customarily gave a handmaid as a wedding gift to the newlyweds.

Of course, we know that there is more to the story than meets the eye. Jacob acted in good faith, but Laban was working his deceit behind the scenes. As John Currid has noted, “As Isaac was blind to Jacobs stealth, now Jacob is blind to Laban’s trickery.”

The marriage is consummated, and Jacob is content. But we can imagine his horror as he awakes the next day to find lying next to him, not Rachel whom he loved and for whom he had laboured, but Leah, her older sister. We should note that Leah was no innocent bystander in this scene. She complied fully with her father’s instructions in this whole matter. The scene is, as R. Kent Hughes has described it, “soap-opera ugly.”

In words that drop with irony, Jacob storms to Laban and angrily demands, “What is this thou hast done unto me? did I not serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?” The word “beguiled” here is the same word that Esau had used in 27:35 to describe Jacob’s deception of him. We wonder if Jacob perhaps felt a twinge of guilt as he uttered that word to Laban. This is nothing less than the pot calling the kettle black.

Laban’s explanation is weak: “It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.” Why did he not tell Jacob this seven years earlier? But never fear: the magnanimous Laban has a simple solution: “Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service for which thou shalt serve with me yet another seven years.” Jacob simply had to comply witht he responsibility of marriage to Leah, and then serve Laban another seven years for Rachel. He would have them both. Jacob agrees, for his love for Rachel drives him to agree to the deal.

A Painful Discord

“And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet another seven years” (v. 30). At the end of another seven years, Jacob is married to both Leah and Rachel, and he has two handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah. Later in the story those handmaids will become his concubines. The story began with a dream: Jacob dreamed of marrying Rachel. It ends in a nightmare: Jacob, the chosen seed, has four wives, two of them sisters. God never intended for man to have more than one wife, and He certainly never intended for sisters to share a husband (cf. Leviticus 18:13-18). Jacob’s dream has turned into a nightmare.

Perhaps at this point, Jacob is asking, “Where is the Ladder now? Is God surely in this place? How can it be? Will the promises fall away so suddenly? Has God changed His mind? Have my sins of the past now come back to haunt me? Has God not forgiven me? Will my past nullify His promises in the present and in the future?” What had once seemed to be the gate to heaven now seemed to be the gate to hell. And yet the biblically-instructed reader must confess that, as difficult as it may seem, this whole situation was orchestrated by the sovereign hand of God. The providence of God is the golden thread that runs through this entire scene. We could just as well add the word “providential” to each point we have considered, and speak of a providential departure, a providential discovery, a providential deal and a providential deception. God’s hand did not cause the sin, but He certainly allowed and oversaw all that took place in this record. Though things did not pan out the way Jacob had expected, God’s plan would still go forward. Jacob would become a great nation, beginning with twelve sons: six from Leah, two from Rachel, two from Bilhah, and two from Zilpah. One of those sons was Judah, through whom Messiah would eventually come: the Seed, who would crush the head of the serpent.

Let us also remember that, whilst the focus of Jacob’s dream was Messiah, God also intended by the dream to show that His church would march on. Whilst God was committed to bringing Messiah into the world, He was equally committed to sanctifying Jacob. He was determined to turn Jacob, the deceiver, into Israel, the prince with God. God loved Jacob too much to let him escape unscathed by his sin. His dream was turned into a nightmare in order to change him. It is significant that the Bible never records Jacob blaming Leah for what happened in this chapter. Was she at fault? Yes, but Jacob came to see the sovereign hand of God in all this. He understood that the nightmare was designed to bring him to a point of contrition and repentance. Perhaps Jacob spent the last six days of this marriage feast contemplating his ways. Perhaps it was at this point that he realised then his hypocrisy in confronting Laban’s deception when he was in fact as big a deceiver as his uncle. Perhaps he realised that, just as Laban took advantage of him at his point of need, that is exactly what he had done with Esau (see 25:29-34). Through it all, his character was developed as repentance was experienced.

A Purposeful Design

Why does God sometimes allow our dreams to turn into nightmares? Simply because He loves us too much to let us stay the way we are. Does God love us enough to forgive us? Yes, but He also loves us enough to chasten us so as to change us. When our dreams turn into nightmares, God is so working as to conform us into the image of His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not know which of your dreams has turned into a nightmare, but I do know that your nightmare is not an indication that God has forsaken you. On the contrary, God is working to produce Christlike character in your life. The Ladder has not been removed; God is still surely in this place. God is here both when you are dreaming and when you are having a nightmare. Your nightmare, believer, is not a gate to hell, but a gate to heaven; a gate through which you can have a closer relationship with Christ.

What do we tell our children when they are frightened by nightmares? Do we not assure them that those nightmares are not real, and that they can continue sleeping unafraid? Sometimes, when we are in the midst of a nightmare, the best thing we can do is go to sleep. What I mean is that our nightmares are the time for us to sit quietly and reflect on the character of God, begging Him to show us afresh His glorious dream. That is precisely the purpose of corporate, Lord’s Day worship: we gather with fellow believers, beseeching God to make us lie down in green pastures to focus again on His glorious dream.

Derek Kidner stated it well: “Twenty years of drudgery and friction were to weather his character; and the reader can reflect that presumably Jacob is not the only person to have needed a Laban in his life.” Sometimes a Laban is exactly what we need. The Labans whom we encounter strengthen our character, and there is no greater need that we have than a more Christlike character. Praise God when He uses Labans for this purpose. Hear the words of Hughes:

Perhaps, as it was for Jacob, there are difficult people in our lives–Laban-type nemeses–harsh people, judgmental people, deceitful people, untruthful people, arrogant people. And we cry for relief. But it just may be, as Allen Ross has suggested, that through them we “Take a long look out ourselves. It may be that some of those traits characterize us and that other people may be part of God’s means of disciplining us.” One thing is for sure: The commerce on behalf of our souls will never cease until we are with the Son of Man.

And, as Hughes correctly concludes, “for this grace we must bless his name!” When your dream turns into a nightmare, realise that the Ladder (Christ) is still there and that God has a purpose. Understand that your nightmare is not a setback, but a part and parcel of the dream, and bless God’s name for His grace.

In his first epistle to the believers in Thessalonica, Paul wrote these instructive words: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). The dream of the Thessalonians had most certainly turned into a nightmare. Paul had entered the city in Acts 17 and spent three weeks there preaching the gospel. A church was founded, but opposition followed soon on the heels of its establishment. And thus Paul exhorts the saints in that city: “When your dream turns into a nightmare, realise that you can still rejoice evermore, for you are still connected to Christ. You can and should pray unceasingly in your nightmare. And remember that, even in your nightmare, it is God’s will that you give thanks.”

We need to hear this exhortation clearly for, particularly in Western culture, we somehow think that only the good things that happen to us are God’s will. And so we give thanks when we receive a promotion at work, certain that that is the will of God; but when we receive the pink slip we lament and wonder if God’s will was somehow thwarted. We need to remember that God’s will is accomplished both in our dreams and in our nightmares, and thus in everything we are to give thanks.

Let us understand that the only way we will see the Ladder in our nightmares is to view those nightmares through the lens of the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer’s life is bound up in Jesus Christ. Believer, you are in Christ whether you are in a dream or in a nightmare.

It seems that in Genesis 29 the dream has gone bad. But in fact, every circumstance in this chapter is part and parcel of God’s plan to fulfil His promises to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. Through it all, He is working to bring Christ into the world that the head of the serpent might finally and fully be crushed.

Let us remember that nothing can happen to us apart from the sovereign permission of our great God. When our dream turns into a nightmare, let us remember that the nightmare is simply part and parcel of the gospel dream. Let us then rejoice evermore and pray without ceasing. Let us give thanks in everything, having full confidence that that is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us.