Genesis 27 — Thoughts

Can Your Sin Derail God’s Plan for Your Life?

One of the weirdest things about the Christian faith is how God interacts with sin. I don't mean the way He judges sin or even the way He died for our sins. Knowing God's justice and His mercy makes sense of both of those things.

I'm talking about the way God uses our sin.

In this story, Isaac sinfully makes Esau his favorite, and Rebekah sinfully makes Jacob her favorite. Rebekah sinfully conspires against Isaac and Esau. Jacob sinfully deceives Isaac and cheats Esau. This whole family is a mess of dysfunction.

And yet — this is the family God will use to bless the world. This is the family He will use to give us the Holy Scriptures. This is the family He will use to bring our Savior into the world.

But that doesn't mean that God condones the sins of the people in this story. God didn't make them sin, and God didn't bless their sin. But knowing what they would do, God worked with it and brought about our good DESPITE their sin.

It reminds me of Romans 8:28: "...in all things God works for the good of those who love him..."

This is a profound reminder of God's power over sin. It's a power He demonstrated most brilliantly on the Cross, when Jesus took all of the world's sin onto His shoulders and made it die with Him. He's conquered it. It's done.

Now, when we give in to our human weakness and sin while trying to follow Jesus, we never have to worry that we've somehow derailed God's plans for our lives. Your sin isn't powerful enough to do that. So free to reject those lies and accusations from the enemy next time you mess up.

God will fulfill His plans for our lives despite our sin. So be willing to faithfully continue following Him despite your sin as well.⁠

(Originally written July 27, 2020)