Broken Things

Have you ever noticed how much fun it is to take something old, broken or discarded… and repurpose it for something wonderful?

After last weeks chat regarding my thoughts on Jacob, and the ripples he caused within the pond of his life, I am still there studying the ripples that had yet to play out for this man… and his children… both good and bad.

Not only do I still feel grateful for God using Broken Things like Jacob, and ME… but through all of the saga that still unfolded in Jacob’s life because of his choices early on, I take so much comfort in the truth of God’s faithfulness.

I thought my story was messed up… and my ripples were splashing on the shore of my life… Jacob and his pebbles caused tidal waves against his sandy shores! From having his daughter assaulted, and his boys killing an entire town in a violent response… to his favorite son being hated so badly by the other sons, they sold him off as a slave and lied about it to Jacob.

Oh, and don’t forget Judah and his family follies… the woman he chose had such a wicked bloodline that God destroyed them. It makes me wonder how Jacob felt, watching his prodigy turn out so sadly.

Even as a man of God, Jacob still set things in motion early on that he probably really regretted. Jacob had all these sons from 4 different woman, all of which were trying to produce the children that would draw his favor. Joseph was sold off to slavery before he left diapers, the other brothers just hadn’t thought of it yet!

In my mind I think… Jacob set his sons up for failure by favoring Joseph from birth! No wonder the boy could openly throw his dreams out to his brothers, making them think him arrogant! He didn’t know any better, as both Jacob and Rachael had raised him with more favor than the others. I’d want to slap him too, if he ran around bragging that he was better. It certainly made things worse when his father used him to go and spy on the others and tattle to dad every chance he got. I now have a better understanding of the animosity between all the brothers.

Now here is the take away I am getting from this mess, and don’t judge, because I am still processing a great amount of insights taken from this story. One thing that speaks volumes to the fact that God can do things man cannot, look at the way Joseph turned out. After all the things that he went through, none of which he deserved, Joseph was able to reconcile with his kin with so much unadulterated love and forgiveness that I can only assume came from God. Joseph had the power, as well as the right, to punish those who wronged him… and yet he didn’t! Why not? How could he be so forgiving?

All I can say for sure is that I am still pondering such things, and I am sure that the ultimate answer is God in the details, and I take such encouragement from this as I clean up the debris from my own ponds shoreline. If God is in my details, then there is good within those ripples as well as the bad.

I will leave you with a song that captures my heart on this subject. The title is Joy in the Morning, by Tauren Wells. https://youtu.be/c_qoSficp0s?si=jmiGGQS8SIvRpDzP

Stick around after the song. Let’s break bread people…