God's Sovereignty and Grace

God’s Sovereignty and Grace
Genesis 25-28
“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants…Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (28:13-15)
God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick.  In chapters 25-28, we see people at their worst.  Instead of acting in faith and trust in God’s plan, they act with deceit, manipulation, and self-interest.  When we first read of Isaac and Rebekah, we see two individuals that God brought together, individuals who trusted God’s control of the circumstances and future of their lives.  But their faith quickly fell victim to their own manipulations and attempts to control the events according to their desires.  Isaac ignored the prophecy that the promise given to Abraham would descend through Isaac rather than Esau.  Instead of trusting in God’s control of the events, Rebekah sought to manipulate the events to her desires.  Esau showed his contempt for the promise by selling his birthright to Jacob.  Encouraged by Rebekah, Jacob, in turn, manipulated and connived to obtain the promise and the blessing through deception.  In the end, the family became driven by bitterness and anger that would require God’s direct intervention to prevent Esau from murdering Jacob (Gen. 32).  
Reading the story, we could easily conclude that the family was not just dysfunctional but that the results reveal how man’s sinful greed can thwart God’s redemptive plan.  Because they failed to trust in God’s provision for the promise, we can surmise that Jacob’s inclusion in the promise was determined by his sinful greed rather than God’s choice. However, in Malachi 1:2-3 and Romans 9:10-13, we discover that it was not Rebekah and Jacob’s treachery that resulted in the promise passing to Jacob.  It was God’s sovereign purposes that determined the outcome.
In life, it often seems as though our lives are driven and dictated by the whims of others.  Sometimes, we look at our past failures and conclude that we are no longer useful to God because the guilt of our sins seems to be the ball and chain that drag us down.  However, in the events of Genesis 25-28, we are reminded that God is sovereignly achieving His purpose even through those whose lives are still corrupted by sin. The same is true for us.  Our failures do not thwart God’s purpose for our life. Instead, in His sovereignty and grace, He weaves our failures into the tapestry of His plan to form the picture He intends.  The supremacy of His grace is that He does not use perfect people to accomplish His purpose; instead, He uses imperfect people who are flawed and marred by sin.  He uses people who still struggle in their faith and obedience to God.  He uses a prostitute to protect the spies in Jericho and then includes her in the lineage of Christ (Rahab).  He used a man who committed adultery and murder to build a nation and instruct us in worship (David).  He revealed His wisdom through a person who failed to follow the words he wrote (Solomon).  God’s sovereignty supersedes our sin to accomplish His purpose.
The story of God is a story of God accomplishing His purpose through people who were imperfect and flawed.  God’s grace is not only realized in our salvation but in His willingness to use us to achieve His purpose. Living by faith is not living perfectly; it is trusting in God’s grace to save us despite our sin and responding to God’s call to serve Him despite our failures.  We are Isaac, Rachel, Esau, and Jacob.  He can draw a straight line with a crooked stick—and that crooked stick is us. Today, make it your prayer to be used by God, not because you are good enough, but because He is gracious enough. Then see what God will do.