“Hard Knocks”

March 5, 2017 ()

Bible Text: Genesis 29:16-29 |

 
In 2001, the NFL in collaboration with HBO created a reality sports documentary show titled Hard Knocks.  Currently in it's 11th season, Hard Knocks attempts to show its viewers the up close, personal and professional lives of a selected team's players, coaches and staff interacting with one another.  The premise of Hard Knocks is that on Sundays millions of people watch the finished product of an NFL team's practices, however, all through the week the team encounters the stresses and struggles of working together as a football family.  And it is during those days that tempers and tensions often flare upon one another.  So Hard Knocks gives its viewers insight into the harsh realities of being a team.  
 
And so it is with most, if not all, of our families. We all face the hard knocks of being family. Each of us have our own dysfunctions, disasters, disappointments, and disturbances within family life. Yet we can't hide from those occurrences, we must find ways to handle them accordingly. 
 
As we continue to trek with Jacob through some of the life challenges that help him become a better person, we see that he is about to begin establishing a family.  Jacob has left the comforts of his birth family, although it was ruffled with dysfunction, and is now about to embark on starting his own family. However, this is not without drama.  Because all of our families experience stress, strain, dysfunction, and the like.  The hard knocks of family life are unavoidable because we are imperfect people.  However, we have a perfect God who will help us navigate through the hard knocks we experience within family life. Jacob shows us that it takes desire and determination to maneuver through the hard knocks of family life.