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The God of Messy Families

by Stanley McMahon  
5/31/2012 / Devotionals

'I wish I came from a normal family'. Perhaps you have thought this at some point in the past, or maybe just yesterday. But as John Ortberg points out, 'Everybody is normal until you get to know them.' When we get down to it, we all know our families intimately and we recognise that somewhere along the line, in some relationship or another, there is something that doesn't work too well. People who like big words call it 'dysfunctionality'. It might be somebody who is an embarrassment to the family, someone who doesn't get along with the others or just has a strange way of getting on.
My wife is a fan of television period dramas. A few years ago, her favourite was 'Lark Rise to Candleford'. It was the story of two neighbouring towns and the families with all their characters and often complicated relationships were the stars. One town was wealthier than the other and in one of the poor families, lived the aptly-named Twister. Twister was always trying to find a way to make money, even if deceitful means were used. The end justified the means. He was an affable character with a peculiar outlook on life; the sort of man that a family might find difficult to own; a man with a degree of dysfunctionality.
In the Bible we find the story of another man called Twister. The thing is, this man is not just an incidental, a side-show tucked away for only the keenest eye to uncover. His story is big spread across half of Genesis. The focal nation in the Bible, the people of God, take their name from him: Jacob, also known as Israel.
Jacob was hardly a model character. He is known more for his cowardice than his courage; more his deceitfulness than his dignity. Yet there is an affable side to this man. He is seen as a hard worker, a shrewd businessman with a definite sense of family values. But his relationships are more than complicated. He has serious issues and a bad history with his brother, strained relationships with his in-laws to say nothing of his wives and their children. Even his relationship with God is not straightforward.
Wait a minute. Those last two sentences may not just describe Jacob; they may reflect something of your own life. It is unlikely that your life is just as messy as Jacob's was, but maybe his story has boxes you could tick.
The remarkable thing about the Bible and Jacob's story is how he is viewed by God. God owns him. The God of grace calls Himself the God of Jacob. One of my favourite verses in one of my favourite psalms is found in Psalm 46. It is repeated twice in this short song. Almost like a chorus. 'The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.' v7, 11.
According to AW Pink, the phrase is mentioned fourteen times in the Old Testament. It begs the questions, why did the Father of all nations, call Himself the God of Jacob? I mean, why would He willingly associate Himself with a Twister? The answer is both uncomfortable and amazing. Granted, there is the lineage factor. Jacob was one of the patriarchs, but it seems to me that there is an important truth presented to us here.
No matter how frustrated we get with ourselves, no matter how keenly we feel the nakedness and weight of our own sinfulness, no matter how we despise our ineptitude and failures, we have the rock-solid assurance that our God, the one who has covenanted Himself to us in Christ, will not abandon us. He is the God of Jacob, the God who accepts us as we are, warts and all.
Now that is uncomfortable because it makes us look at ourselves and say, honestly, maybe we are not all we would like to think we are. Maybe we never will be, this side of heaven. But our God and Father, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul likes to call Him, is our God. Yes He is the Lord Almighty, but yes He is my God, my Father, my Lord, my Friend. He accepts me in all my twisted sinfulness and dares to call me beloved. Now that is something to think about!

Long-time writer, life-time learner and happily married for nearly twenty-seven years. I am inspired by life and my bottom-line is faith that works. Live in Northern Ireland and engaged in church work full-time.

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