There comes a time in our lives when God makes it clear: It’s time to move forward.

For twenty years, Jacob endured Laban’s deception and control. But in Genesis 31, everything shifts. Laban’s sons grow resentful, Laban turns against Jacob, and then God speaks: “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you” (Genesis 31:3).

It was time to go.

But leaving wasn’t easy. Jacob fled in secret, afraid of confrontation. Rachel, instead of trusting God, stole her father’s household gods. Even as God was calling them into freedom, fear still shaped their actions.

As we are striving this year to grow in love, understand that fear and love cannot rule the same heart. Fear makes us grasp for control. Love teaches us to trust. Fear makes us manipulate outcomes. Love rests in God’s providence.

Love Trusts God More Than Fear

How often do we do the same as Jacob and Rachel? We sense God calling us forward—to leave behind toxic relationships, selfish ambitions, or old patterns of sin—but we hesitate. We obey, but with conditions. We move forward, but with one foot still in the past.

But love—real, Christlike love—isn’t driven by fear or self-protection. Love trusts God. Love moves forward without manipulation, without scheming, without grasping for control.

Jacob’s story reminds us that when God calls us forward, He goes before us. Jacob didn’t need to flee in fear—God was already protecting him. When Laban pursued him, God stepped in, warning Laban in a dream (v. 24). What Jacob saw as a desperate escape was actually God’s loving deliverance.

This is the pattern of God’s redemptive love throughout Scripture. When God called Israel out of Egypt, He provided a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22). When Jesus called His disciples to leave everything and follow Him, He promised, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). God’s love always calls us forward, never backward.

Loving More and More Means Leaving Some Things Behind

Jacob and Laban made a covenant at Mizpah—not a blessing, but a boundary. A final separation. Jacob would never return.

Sometimes, love requires boundaries. It means recognizing when a relationship is harmful, when trust has been broken, or when God is calling us to step into a new season. But separation doesn’t mean resentment. Jacob didn’t seek revenge on Laban—he entrusted the situation to God. That’s how love operates.

This is what love more and more looks like:

• Love trusts God’s timing rather than forcing an outcome.
• Love values people, not for what they give us, but because they are made in God’s image.
• Love forgives, but also knows when to set wise boundaries (Proverbs 22:24-25, 2 Timothy 3:2-5, Romans 12:18).
• Love moves forward, not clinging to past security but trusting God for the future.

The Greater Exodus: Christ’s Call to Move Forward

Jacob’s story ultimately points us to a greater exodus.

Jacob fled from an oppressor, but Christ delivers us from sin and death. Jacob feared what Laban would do to him, but Jesus set His face toward the cross, knowing what awaited Him (Luke 9:51). Jacob left Haran for the Promised Land, but Jesus left heaven to redeem us (Philippians 2:6-8).

Through Jesus, we have a better covenant—a covenant of peace, not separation. He reconciles us to God and to one another (Ephesians 2:13-14).

Where is God calling you to trust Him more? What is He asking you to leave behind?

Jacob’s story reminds us that obedience isn’t just about leaving—it’s about trusting the God who leads us forward. And when we do, we’ll find what Jacob found: God is already ahead of us, working for our good.