In Genesis 25, we come across a story that is both intriguing and troubling. Isaac, who is Abraham’s son of Promise, and his wife Rebekah had tried for twenty years to have children. When Rebekah finally conceived, what should have been nothing but joy soon turned to distress. What seemed like a double blessing in conceiving twins soon became a struggle because even in the womb, the twins wrestled. They were already jockeying for position. Seeking understanding, Rebekah inquired of the LORD, and God revealed His sovereign plan: “Two nations are in your womb… the older will serve the younger.”

That declaration may not land on us that hard, but in that day, it shattered every cultural expectation. In the ancient world, the firstborn received the blessing, the inheritance, the honored position. Yet before these boys drew their first breath, before they could do anything good or bad, God announced His choice. Jacob, the younger, not Esau, the older, would carry forward the covenant promise.

Now, truth be told, this makes us uncomfortable. We want to believe God chooses based on merit or foreseen faith. But God’s sovereignty doesn’t bow to our preferences. He doesn’t bend his plan to the choices of mere mortals. No, He chooses according to His purposes. As Paul later explains in Romans 9 about this very passage here in Genesis, it demonstrates that God’s purposes stand firm by His election, not by human effort or desire.

Yet God’s sovereignty isn’t arbitrary cruelty. It’s purposeful grace. Through Jacob’s flawed life, God would birth a nation. Through that nation, the Messiah would come. You see, God’s sovereign choices always serve His redemptive plan.

Beloved, when life doesn’t follow expected patterns, remember, God’s ways are higher than ours. He sees the whole story while we see only a chapter. Trust His sovereign wisdom, even when you don’t understand His methods.

Change begins in you!