Dysfunction & God's Plan

It seems that we very readily label individuals or families as dysfunctional. By that label we mean to imply that the individual or family does not exhibit “normal” or “appropriate” behavior in one or many aspects of life. At the same time, since dysfunction is so prevalent maybe it should be labeled “normal”. I say that a bit tongue and cheek, but what is normal in this broken world is the sin at the root of our dysfunction. 

One of the things that you have to love about the Bible is the fact that God doesn’t hide the dysfunction in the lives of the people who we find there. For example, Genesis 27 reads like a soap opera. Intrigue, deception, and lying are the prominent features. Isaac, Esau, Rebekah, and Jacob are all scheming around one thing, God’s blessing. 

One commentator writes about Genesis 27 in this way:

From beginning to end, the concern for the blessing predominates. Isaac sought to bestow it, and Esau wanted it. Rebekah heard about it and ensured that Jacob got it. Isaac unwittingly gave it to Jacob, and Esau was furious over having lost it. 

If you haven’t read the chapter in a while, I commend it to you. We ought not be surprised that we find people scheming and manipulating others when we read the Bible. They’re just like we are! What is meant to shock us, however, is the fact that God worked out his plan of redemption through folk like that. His plan wasn’t somehow thwarted by messed up folks, as if we were able to trip God up. 

This fact meets us right where we are. For we are all dysfunctional. What do we do with the dysfunction around us and in us? How do we avoid just becoming cynical about everything, and throwing up our hands? Ultimately folks, in everything we rest in the sovereignty and goodness of God through Jesus Christ. He’s the one who is making all things new in spite of what it looks like all around us. His plan wasn’t thwarted in Genesis 27 and it won’t be thwarted now.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Irwyn