Sibling Rivalry and Then Some!

In utero Jacob and Esau squabbled. How sad that Jacob’s father favoured his brother Esau over him. How tragic that Esau’s mother favoured Jacob. More distressing is that the pattern of favouritism was already generations old before Jacob and Esau’s life-long conflict.

Today’s devotion was by far the most difficult for me to write. Where is there good news in a boy feeling unloved by one of his parents? Where is there good news in a feud between brothers that began in their pre-natal existence? The margin notes in my Lutheran Study Bible remind me that God isn’t the cause of the struggle between the twin brothers and the nations traced to each of them. God does anticipate these struggles. Yet?God promises to the grandparents of these tangling twins that God would make of their family a people both blessed and a blessing for all. God somehow manages to work within the discord and dysfunction. It’s good news that the characters of the Bible aren’t perfect or mythical in virtue. God seeks relationship with us and doesn’t discard us for our flaws or abandon us when we fail to love God and neighbour.

Thank you, God, for steadfast love that overcomes dysfunction, strife and heartache. Amen. — BSC