From Failure to Faithfulness
If you ever wondered how God could use you after some of the mistakes you made, then just read the Bible! The scriptures are filled with stories of imperfect people making repeated mistakes, and yet over time God used them, redeemed them, and continued the process of maturation throughout their lives.
Jacob had 12 sons by his 2 wives, Leah and Rachel, and their maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah. The family was dysfunctional from the start, and the dysfunction clearly impacted the 12 sons.
It is fascinating to consider the narrative in Genesis 29 through the end of the book. This family experienced death, arrogance, selfishness, jealousy, rebellion, deception, and ultimately redemption and reconciliation. And the story is filled with surprising twists and turns in who and how God uses these individuals in his grand plan of redemption through Jesus.
In Genesis 37 the jealousy and aggression of Jacob’s sons becomes apparent. When Joseph arrived to check on his brothers, the crowd mentality kicked in and the brothers decided to kill their father’s favorite son, Joseph. The oldest brother quickly plays along but plans on rescuing Joseph from death when his brothers weren’t paying attention.
Without Reuben’s knowledge, we discover that Judah (the fourth son) pivots and declares that they should sell their brother to slave traders who were passing by. When Reuben returns to rescue Joseph, he discovers what had happened. The band of brothers creates a new story that Joseph was the victim of a wild animal attack and takes his coat back to Jacob, torn and covered in blood.
Suddenly the plot line shifts from the youngest and favorite son and the eldest who failed in his role to save Joseph and turns to Judah. In chapter 38 we learn that Judah once again rebels by marrying a Canaanite woman. Judah has 3 sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah found a wife for his first son. Er was described as being so wicked that God had him killed. The dysfunction of the original family seemed to be trending even worse in Judah’s bloodline. You can read chapter 38 and get the depth of Judah’s moral failures.
However when we turn to chapter 43, we see a remarkable change in Judah as he told his father Jacob that he would pledge his own life to guarantee Benjamin would be safe in his care as they traveled back to Egypt to appear before Joseph. We don’t know the details of the change in Judah from chapter 37 to chapter 43, but they were so profound that in chapter 49, Jacob bestows the greatest blessing on Judah over all the other brothers.
As we continue the grand narrative of scripture, we see that the Messiah came from the line of Judah.
I don’t know that Paul was thinking about all of this when he wrote in Philippians:
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
What we do know is that Paul knew how spiritual maturity is a process and not a one-time event. Paul himself was once a murderer who became the greatest missionary of all time.
Whatever you have done in the past can be forgiven and you can still be used by God for his kingdom purposes. How and when God shapes you and transforms you might not be apparent at first but over time he can bring beauty from ashes.
Father, may we learn that as long as we have breath you can still use us for your kingdom purposes when we are willing to stay the course in our obedience to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Genesis 37:26-28, 43:3-14, 49:8-12; Philippians 1:6 ESV
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