Jacob's Mishaps and Mission

This post is sort of thinking through Genesis 37-50.

It is easy to think of Jacob as a deceiver, theif, coniver, and polygamist. And he was all those things. But he was also Israel. It is interesting to me that he had some issues but then raised a man like Joseph. Joseph was 17 when he was sold into slavery and all he had to go on was what his father had taught him. It's amazing to think that the man who struggled so many years to rely upon God raised a son like Joseph. His brothers struggled and really did not turn out so well. It makes me wonder if perhaps God had to take Joseph away from his home and put him in the pressure cooker so that he could become the leader he was. I don't know. But the longer I am a Dad, the more gracious I am toward Jacob. I am certainly no better than he and need God's grace just as much (if not more) than did Jacob. Joseph's story gives me hope that maybe in spite of my failures as a father, God will make something of my children.