Abraham’s legacy: he believed God. He was blessed by God and God blessed his son Isaac. Jacob and Esau were born to Isaac and Rebekah. God’s plan continued with the foretelling to Rebekah that the younger would serve the older. Esau, red and hairy, was born first. Jacob, grasping Esau’s heel, came second. Twin brothers. Two nations. Two plans of God. Two outcomes.
It is difficult to comprehend the plan of God at times. God had a plan for Jacob and announced it before his birth. How strange that an act of bribery and a decision of appetite determined the course of the birthright. God knew the hearts of Jacob and Esau and the personal qualities that would direct their lives. They were in God’s plan. They were men. They were not perfect. How would God have worked out his plan of redemption through Jacob had they not engaged in the trade of the birthright? God’s ways are not our ways; God’s thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8).
I have found myself bewildered by circumstances throughout my life. I came to a conclusion many years ago, “God uses imperfect people and their imperfect ways to accomplish his perfect plan.” I don’t know how it works but trusting God and his plan does work.
Lord, help me trust your perfect ways and that you use me and my imperfections to accomplish your plan. Help me be patient with imperfect people in my family, my church and my social network. You use them, too. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Steve Ruberg
