Reframe the Past, Pre-frame the Future

We used to own some property in the Pacific NW that was six miles off grid. A couple of cabins nearby, in case of emergency, made it the perfect combination of safe yet remote. It was absolutely silent. No need to reframe my perspective on that situation. It was glorious!

We decided to build a 8×12 shabin—part shed, part cabin. Roy and I did most of the work. Two 50-yr-olds digging footers, mixing and pouring concrete, etc. Our daughter and her hubby came out to help frame it, but we put on the roof by ourselves. Taming the land around it was even more daunting. Where could we put a septic system? Could we afford to hire someone to dig a well—the price determined by how deep they had to go to hit water?

We ended up moving across the country before finishing our dream shabin or making those tough decisions on the property. When we visited our friends in one of the neighboring cabins last spring, we took a peak at what the new owner had done with the shabin and the surrounding property. OH MY!!! Totally reframed what we’d envisioned for that land! Our shabin was now a tool shed and had been moved twenty feet north of where we’d labored so hard to put it. The new owner had prepared the sight for a home with a walk-out basement and “safe room” in case of WWIII. Eeeek!

Reframing Defined

A few weeks ago, our pastor began a new series on The War For Our Minds. Of course, the foundation of his sermons is always the Bible, but he also used material from, Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel. The sermon series has been life-changing for many of us, but for me specifically because it began about the time I was more discouraged than I’d ever been in my twenty-year publishing career.

I needed to reframe my view of some harsh comments that had totally wrecked me. I also needed to pre-frame my plans for writing in the future—or I could never write for publication again. These concepts of reframing and pre-framing changed my world, so I hope you’ll take the time to read a little more about them…

Nine Words

Are you getting sick of hearing about how deeply this editing journey on Potiphar’s Wife has affected me? Believe me, I’m getting tired too! On one especially discouraged morning, I opened my ESV Illuminated Bible Journal to these words:

“Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings.” Genesis 37:1 (ESV)

Nine simple words that held great meaning because I’d read everything Jacob experienced in Gen. 33-35, during the thirty-plus years since he’d left his father Isaac’s camp. He left Canaan a deceiver, who had stolen his brother Esau’s birthright and blessing (two different things), and he returned a very different man.

How did God “reframe” Jacob’s view of the past to accept the present and pre-frame the future?

Jacob’s Return

After twenty years away, God appeared to Jacob in Haran and told him to return to Canaan, “the land of your fathers” (Genesis 31:3). The night Jacob crossed into Canaan, the Lord wrestled with him on the banks of the Jabbok River and changed his name to Israel, saying:

“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:28

Surely, after Jacob personally wrestled with God, his life was totally transformed, right? No more deception? Wrong. Before obeying the God Who Wrestles and returning to Isaac’s camp, Jacob tried everything in his power NOT to live in the “land of his father’s sojournings.”

• 33:1-17 – Jacob lied to Esau when they were reunited after twenty years, saying he’d follow his older brother to Seir—and then moved his caravan in the opposite direction.
• 33:17 – Jacob built a house (not pitched a tent, but a house) in Succoth, a city on the far northern edge of the land promised to Abraham.
• 33:18-34:31 – Jacob moved his household to Shechem. Why would he leave the place he’d built his first house? No reason given in Scripture. He purchased LAND in Shechem, and his household remained in tents. Mingling with the Canaanite people, however, ended with his daughter being raped and two of his sons becoming murderers.
• 35 – Jacob insists his household recommit to Elohim and leave for Bethel, where he also recommits. Struggle still follows:
  • Rachel, Jacob’s favored wife, grieves her lifelong nursemaid’s death.
  • Rachel herself dies while giving birth to Jacob’s twelfth and final son.
  • Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, sleeps with Jacob’s wife, Bilhah.

Back to Daddy

After twelve years of tragedies (by my calculations, using biblical clues and commentaries), Jacob FINALLY obeyed the command God gave him in Haran and returned to Isaac’s camp.

“And Jacob came to his father Isaac at…Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. And Isaac breathed his last…And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.” Genesis 35:27-29

Did Jacob make it back in time to say goodbye to Isaac? Dunno. But let’s think about those nine words from Genesis 37:1 (ESV) again:

“Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings.”

After twenty years in Haran and more than a decade of avoiding his family, Jacob returned home to inherit all Isaac’s wealth—and the emotional baggage that came with it.

ReFrame With God’s Perspective

Jacob left Isaac’s camp a deceiver who didn’t know Elohim. He returned as Israel after more than thirty years of personal struggles with God and men. Here’s an example of what it means to reframe:

“And as Rachel’s soul was departing [during childbirth], she called his name Ben-oni [son of my sorrow]; but his father called him Benjamin [son of my strength].” Genesis 35:18

Jacob was likely 100+ years old when Benjamin was born. Though most assuredly grieving his favored wife’s death, he reframed the situation with a God-centered perspective, praising Elohim for a twelfth son at Jacob’s miraculously old age (the same age at which Abraham became a father to Isaac, BTW).

Biblical Reframing Example #2:

The Apostle Paul had always dreamed of preaching the Gospel in Rome; however, when he wrote his letter to the Philippians from there, he was a prisoner, chained and under guard. Not at all the way he’d envisioned his missionary journey, yet his reframed thoughts have become known as the “joy letter” (Philippians):

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Philippians 1:12-14

Personal Reframing

I needed to reframe my perspective on the tough editing journey, my assistant’s resignation, and overwhelming time demands by asking myself:

How has God used these hard life situations for His glory and my good?

Let’s go back even farther—as I believe Jacob needed to do when he found himself “living in the land of his father’s sojourning”—and reframe our more distant past. As I applied the lens of God’s perspective on my painful past, I began to realize its eternal value. Each rough patch had a corresponding and lasting effect on who I am today.

What difficult circumstances are you currently facing (or have faced in the past) that hold you hostage? How can you—with the Holy Spirit’s guidance—reframe your perspective to view those difficulties through eternity’s lens in a way that brings God glory and will benefit your thought life?

PRE-Framing Through Faith

Finally, as the Holy Spirit directs a reframed perspective on our past–in order to grow our faith–we should recognize that the growth may come with a limp as Jacob’s did. But we can walk with shoulders straighter and our chins held a little higher because we look for the glory of God in the hard stuff. We can enter future frays by pre-framing our thoughts with victorious Scriptures like:

• “I am more than a conqueror through Christ who strengthens me.” (Rom. 8:37 personalized)
• “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:4 personalized)

What are some of your favorite Scriptures that secure your position as God’s precious child and His powerful position over the enemy of our souls?

Book Info:

If you’re interested in reading more about the topics of reframing and pre-framing, check out the book, Winning the War in Your Mind (Kindle aff link) by Craig Groeschel, (also in AUDIBLE and hardcover editions on these Amazon aff links).

Today’s Question:

• What spoke to you today from the post or from Jacob/Esau’s family and their struggles?

Tweet-Ables:

• Got a past that’s painted you into a corner? Reframe your life into a masterpiece with eternal landscapes.
• See how the patriarch, Jacob, and the Apostle Paul reframed the hard stuff in their lives, and apply the same lens to your challenges.
• Discover how to build your life on the reframed perspective shown to you by the Holy Spirit, and watch your faith grow!