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Speaker: Jerry Cisar

Have you ever wrestled with thoughts like these? “How can I be a part of God’s plan since I was begotten outside of marriage?” Or have you been told by your parents, in order to excuse their divorce, “Dad & mom were never meant to be married”? Which leads to the next thought, “If you were never meant to be married, then God never intended for me to exist,” therefore, “How can I be a part of God’s plan for good?”

Maybe your questions are more along this line, “Since I was disobeying God when I got married, how can God work in my marriage for good and make something useful for His purposes out of it?” Each of these questions grows out of a more fundamental question: Is God sovereign, or am I? I.e. Does God have supreme rule and authority over my life, or do I? In answering that question, we will answer this one: Can I, through my own folly, or someone else by their sin against me, so mess up my life that God cannot accomplish His purposes for me?

Genesis 27:1—28:5 are the perfect story for answering questions like these. All four characters in the story participate in some form of deception. The whole family is never together. Dad and mom are together for the final scene, but work against each other until then. Esau and Jacob are never in the same room. What becomes clear is that there is division and dysfunctionality underlying all their relationships. Yet when all is said and done, God’s purposes prevail despite their sin. God shoots straight with crooked arrows! He never misses the mark when it concerns His plans.

Take a moment and reflect on how questions like those above may have effected your faith that God is working all things together for good.

Handout: http://www.gccc.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/20161002.pdf