When you step on a scale to weigh yourself, look in a mirror, or get caught by the radar gun as you drive, you see the flaws in your physical being or in your behaviors. Some of us deny what we see, but we are all flawed. No one escapes this fact about ourselves; there are no excuses. In order for God to use us, He needs to shape us, as He did Jacob. Our spiritual paths are crooked, and God uses our flaws to do good works. When we believe in God, we are justified in Him. Justification is God’s work for us. As we grow in Christ, we are sanctified. Sanctification is God’s work in us. Every experience is colored by our faults; in every colored flaw, God finds the clay to shape us into what He wants. Philippines 2:13 (KJV), states, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasures.” Hebrews 13:21 (KJV) states, “Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. A-men.”
The weather has been unbelievably awful this spring. We have had drought, floods, bad air from Canadian forest fires, and tremendous changes in temperatures. So today, the outdoor service was not even a consideration; I listened to Max Lucado’s sermon, “God Uses Flawed Folks.” In the story from Jacob’s early years, his mother, Rebecca, sent him to visit her brother, Laban, in Haron. It is said that Jacob was a cheater, trickster, and a swindler. Jacob was blind to his faults, and Rebecca wanted him to see who he really was. When Jacob crossed into what is today southern Turkey, he found a shepherd girl, Rachel, watering her flock by a water well, and he fell madly in love with her. He went to her father, Laban, and asked for her hand in marriage, but Laban told Jacob to serve him for seven years. Then he could marry his beautiful daughter.
Jacob was unaware of Rachel’s older sister, Leah, who was said to be very plain with soft eyes. After Jacob served the seven years, he prepared to marry Rachel. On the wedding day, Laban saw to it that Rachel was not available, and he placed Leah in the wedding tent at sunset after the drunken festival guests, including Jacob, had fallen asleep and did not know what they were doing. When Jacob woke up the next morning, he found Leah, not Rachel, laying beside him in bed. His anger spilled over into a heated argument with Laban about his treachery. Laban required Jacob to serve him for another seven years if he wanted to marry the younger daughter. So Jacob served again, and He married Rachel after the seven years. Unknown to Jacob, God had planned for Leah to be the bloodline of His only Son, Jesus Christ.
So what do we learn from the Old Testament story? You cannot cheat God; you get what you sow. Jacob saw who he really was, a cheat, a swindler, and a dishonorable man, much like his uncle Laban. I believe we reap what we sow; we are tempted to blame others for our faults. God is willing to put road blocks on our journeys if that is what it takes to shape us according to His plan. If you want good things tomorrow, you must do good things today. The only way God can build His Kingdom is by shaping our faults into the clay that becomes the vessels of good works here on earth. He is the great potter; in His hands, we become the vessels of hope, love, and peace among men.
Anna Hartt
