Abraham’s son, Isaac, blesses the black sheep grandson of the family, Jacob, in Genesis 28:3 and says that Jacob will be the start of a community of nations— a 'qahal' in Hebrew, translated in the Greek as ‘Ecclesia’—in English this is the word ‘church’. Jacob’s 12 children would be the 12 tribes of Israel. In fact, Jacob’s name is changed from Jacob to Israel, or ‘one who wrestles with God.’
God would do the impossible in family of Jacob, already dysfunctional and crazy: God would turn them into a worshipping community. As R. Kent Hughes writes in his commentary on Genesis, “God did not choose Abraham’s family because they were a better representative of traditional family values than their pagan neighbors—unless you count favoritism and murderous envy as the traditional values of this family.” God’s plan for this family seems impossible given that they’re a dysfunctional disaster. As Moses is writing this story he needed his people to hear this reality: Israel on the road out of Egypt was a disaster.
We need to heart this: we can be a disaster. But God has more in store for us than on our disaster, for the church isn’t just a worshipping community of dysfunctional families (we are), but more so, we are a community transformed by the very presence of God Himself so that our dysfunction would be healed and redeemed for God’s glory. Jacob’s story is our story because we have the same God.
So here we are stuck at home: worrying…trying not to worry; hoping…trying to hope; stressed…trying not to stress. The story of God’s incredible redemption of his people, the whole story of Exodus and salvation…it starts with Jacob and his family stuck in a famine, stuck in their dysfunction, huddled together…worrying, hoping, and stressed. Then Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, will help save his family and people after his own quarantine in a foreign land.
What’s the point? Look at the big picture. We groan under our dysfunction, under heartache, under suffering and grief. God does not leave us. This is precisely where God works the biggest miracles.
You’re not stuck at home. You’re safe at home. You’re life isn’t unraveling, even if you have lost your job or your business or your health. God is in the middle of it all, working for you good.
So let’s say that at the end of all this pandemic…let’s imagine things are better than we could imagine. Let’s say your life, your heart, your marriage, your finances…they’re way better than you could imagine. What lie would your future self tell you to reject? What perspective would your future self tell you to ditch in favor of hope and faith and joy?
List them. Talk about them. Journal your response.
Now is the time to live with faith. I hate writing this because it always feels so corny to say it. But living with faith, or choosing faith, is when you stand firm on the battlefield of life. With arrows of discouragement and despair raining down…with the chaos of circumstances shaking the ground…faith is the choice to hold up your shield, smile at the person standing next to you, and yell “We’re winning! Isn’t this incredible?!!!” Because if we had eyes to see the spiritual realm all around us what we would see would shock us. Jesus is literally working everywhere around us. If we had eyes to see, it would be like climbing to the top of a tall tower and finally having the perspective to see the truth: Jesus is winning. Jesus has won. You’ve won the cosmic lottery. You belong to the King of Kings. You are His beloved child, chosen for good things in this world and for an eternity of joy in His presence.
