Why you should not underestimate God’s ability to redeem your story
By Dean Collins
God has a way of taking our mistakes, our strengths, and our weaknesses and connecting them to his better story. If you think your failures have ruined the story so it cannot possibly have a good ending, you probably aren’t paying attention to the way God has woven his story and master plan all through history.
An unexpected ending
As we see Joseph’s story come to an end in Genesis, there is a twist in the plot as Jacob blesses his sons before his death. Joseph's dream of his family bowing down before him came true. He played a definite role in keeping the family alive. The reader expects that Joseph will be the hero as God’s grand narrative progresses. But the focus will shift.
Jacob’s favorite son he had thought to be dead had delivered the family safely. His mother, Rachel, would have been proud to see all that he accomplished. But the limelight shifts from Jacob and Rachel’s children to Jacob and Leah’s children in the coming years and even for eternity.
Judah’s blessing gives us a foreshadow of things to come. The last of Leah’s children will be known as the lion. His lineage will hold power and authority. And from his family tree will come the mighty King David and eventually the King of kings, Jesus. Reading only a few chapters earlier in Genesis, we would have never predicted this possible.
An unexpected blessing
Genesis 37 tells us that Judah was the brother of Joseph who suggested the brothers sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. Rueben had wanted to rescue Joseph from the pit, but Judah beat him to the punch. I am not sure we can say there was anything good about Judah’s behavior in this chapter, and things with Judah get dicier in chapter 38. You can read it for yourself, but the highlights are that he had some evil sons, they died, his daughter-in-law Tamar is allowed to live with the remaining family, but she wants children.
Judah, perhaps in some desire to be comforted while on business out of town, decides to have sex with a prostitute. However, his daughter-in-law intentionally disguised herself as a prostitute to trick her father-in-law into having sex with her so she could have a child of her own. Can you believe this stuff is in the Bible?
When Judah discovers that Tamar is pregnant, he wants her to be killed but then finds out he is the father. This guy, Judah, is the one Jacob blesses. God used this guy with all of his despicable background to be the one who would bring forth the line of kings culminating centuries later in the birth of a Messiah, Jesus.
An unforeseen provision
When Jacob dies, the brothers are fearful Joseph might not treat them well now that their father Jacob was not around to intervene. But Joseph sets his brothers at ease with these words: “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?”
He goes on to say that they may have planned evil but God has turned things around for good. Theirs and even ours. You likely can look back over your life and find times when you feared some outcome that was a result of your mistakes or even someone else’s bad intentions. But have you noticed that God can take messes that we inherit and even the ones we create and turn them around for a good purpose?
God turned Joseph’s crazy dreams into provision for his whole family. God used Judah with all of his faults and failures as the strong son of Jacob to bring about a line of kings that eventually included the Lion of Judah.
I am confident that if God can weave miracles in the stories of so many characters in Scripture, he is only in the middle of creating the many ways he wants to use our stories for his purposes and ultimately for his glory.
Your time with God’s Word
Genesis 49:8-12; 50:19-21 ESV
Photo by Reuben Juarez on Unsplash
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