Our God Meant It for Good series will continue this Sunday with Genesis 38. Matthew began his Gospel by recounting the line of promise from Abraham to David to Jesus. The pattern goes like this:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
And Isaac the father of Jacob,
And Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Then we read something unexpected.
And Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar…
No mention of Sarah or Rebekah or Leah or Rachel. Why does Tamar make the list? Genesis 38 gives us the backstory and it isn’t one that Judah would have been proud of.
But, in these events we will see God’s sovereign hand – just as we saw last week at the beginning of Joseph’s story – meaning for good many things that were meant for evil. As we sang this past Sunday, “We often fail to see the hand of His design. In every mystery, God’s grace is intertwined.” Stories like this give us the vantage point of hindsight and remind us that God’s grace is just as intertwined in the parts of our own stories we are least proud of.
Kenny Clark will be preaching this Sunday. Would you take time this week to ask God to enlarge our understanding and gratitude for His enormous grace? Pray for Kenny as he prepares and for each person who will be here this Sunday, that the Holy Spirit would edify, encourage, convict, humble, and reassure us as He wills. And reading ahead is always encouraged!