Genesis: The Story of God's FaithfulnessSample

GOD USES BROKEN PEOPLE 

Listen to the audio guide to hear the complete devotional with Scripture, teaching and a worship song! Find a condensed, written version of this devotional below: 

We all showcase the best versions of ourselves to the world. Our social media accounts are not reels of our lowest moments. We don’t show up to school reunions to share our failures and disappointments. We don’t jump to excitedly text our friend group when we give into that temptation we’re struggling with again. No, we want to come across as put-together versions of ourselves. We’d rather hide all the broken parts. 

In the passage we just read, we see mistreatment, sexual sin, deception and hypocrisy in the lives of our characters. But God uses these broken people and broken circumstances to accomplish his plan! In Matthew 1, two of the characters, Judah and Tamar, are listed in the lineage of Jesus! 

The lineage of people leading to Christ were not perfect people. In fact, they were quite the opposite. God used a line of broken people and the mistakes they made, such as the one in this account, to bring about his plan. And this is good news for us! Believers today can take comfort in the fact that God does his best work in messy lives. He is not looking for put-together people who don’t mess up. He is looking to showcase his redemption. 

Our mess-ups don't catch God off guard. Our sexual sin, our insecurity, our rebellion, our lies, our selfishness-it’s all a chance for God’s redemption to shine through as it did in Judah’s story. 

So, we do not need to be discouraged by our failures. Turning to God and his grace in our sin only increases our love for God and the Gospel. And we do not need to hide our failures from others. A sinner turning towards grace is a better picture of the Gospel than a perfect, put-together life. It reminds the world that God uses broken people to bring about his glorious plan. The story is not about us; rather, it’s about God and his redemption.

REFLECT: What part of yourself or your life would you describe as broken? How have you seen God at work, bringing good from this area? Say or journal a prayer asking God to showcase his grace and redemption in your brokenness.