"This is the family tree of Esau" (Gen 36:1)
Although Esau gave away his birthright and was tricked out of the firstborns blessing, God provided for him. I often wonder what kind of man Esau was. He clearly accepted his brother back when he greeted him with 400 men and a kiss - instead of 400 men and death. He invited Jacob to come back with him, didn't threaten him or scare him off. And instead of moving Jacob out when their possessions became too great for the land to support them, he honored his father's blessing and took all he had and moved. How God took the "nothing" that Esau thought he was left with and built a family tree from him. In speculation it seems that Isaac and Esau were closer than Esau was to his mother. After the tricks she pulled, I would think it was hard to trust her. Abraham and Isaac were probably close too. Isaac obeyed his father to the point of laying himself down on the alter to be the sacrifice. And Abraham - through scriptures I discover he was a man who loved deeply. Perhaps that type of love is what was in Esau's core to make him the man he was - even after being deceived.
That is one of the many things I find amazing about our Daddy. Even when it seems someone else gets the "best", He still takes care of us. He takes what we are and if we allow it, He builds a tree. He loves us in a way that is best for us. It could be there was something about Esau that got in the way of being in the place God put Jacob. When looking at things through my narrow vision, it doesn't seem fair that Jacob got the "prize". There were many things that happened that didn't make Jacob's life a bed of roses. But, God does use everything for His glory.
When I look back at my life, I don't even feel that I am the same person who lived those years. The "Deby" outside of Christ is dead and gone. Thankfully, He has used all my past stumbling blocks as His stepping stones. These stones have enabled me to have an intimate relationship with Him and help others find that intimacy in Him too. He has used my past mistakes in persons lives today to help encourage them, help prevent them from taking the same steps. He has given me more of the gift of empathy, but not as great in mercy - which is pretty much empathy in action. I smile when I think that He has given Curt the exact opposite and how we help balance each other out.
He has taken the life that I lived without Him and has grown it into a lineage for Him. There were too many episodes in my life that I should have died. From drugs, the pits of depression and suicide , to the places and people I surrounded myself with. He took a sapling that was trying to survive in the muck of the world and transplanted it into His fertile soil. He has given me a marriage that is a miracle in itself. Two sons and a daughter-in-law that follow Him. Restoration between family members. Forgiveness for past hurts. And forgetfulness. He has changed my heart - my eyes - my mind.
I am so blessed that our family tree is His family tree.
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