The Bold, Beautiful, Blessed and Deceived

Today: Genesis 27-29

If there ever was a Biblical soap opera, I think today's passage might have been it. These chapters set out a pretty twisted plotline--a brother deceiving a brother (and his father, too!), a bait-and-switch at the altar, a wife who gives children to her husband but receives no love in return, and the beautiful girl whose guy waited 14 years to make her his bride (and did I mention that this guy was also the one who married her older sister by mistake?). It sounds a little like Jerry Springer, don't you think?

What's amazing is that God was in the midst of this messiness. He didn't cause it. But He loved these people with messy lives. He was with them. He blessed them. He saw them. He heard them.

At moments, all of us can find ourselves in the midst of messes--messes that impact us or the people around us. Don't be afraid to reach out to God in your dramatic, messy life. And don't be afraid to reach out with God's love to someone else whose life is a mess to rival a Jerry Springer episode. Love is strong enough to wade its way through messes--and to pull us out of them, too!

Tomorrow: Genesis 30-31