In today#039s QT passage, we see Jacob buried with a funeral like a great king.
This is in shocking contrast to his cheating, scheming, wretched, sinful life where he caused more harm than good to so many.
His favoritism alone towards Rachel and her sons is enough to warrant a roadside burial like Rachel#039s, not the one of royal proportions we read about.
Yet he is Israel, the one who struggled against God and the one whose sons become the twelve Jewish tribes and through Judah, the line to Jesus flows.
It so often seems impossible to appreciate God#039s perspective.
The funeral of my own father was just as shocking to me.
My father was not smart and never rose above the rank of corporal in the military.
I loved him as a child because he was child-like in so many ways and enjoyed playing.
When I became a teenager, I showed him no respect and considered myself infinitely smarter than he.
I looked down on him, the man who provided me with a good living environment at the expense of his having to always have an extra job outside his military duty. He and my mother always argued, the reasons for their arguing I could never fathom.
I was my mother#039s favorite, so I naturally came to choose her in any family dispute.
She was the one who gave me the ornate robe of Joseph. In my view, my father was a nobody.
As I grew older, married, had children of my own, and was called to faith, I began to see more of my father#039s worth and through God#039s mercy was able to reconcile with him and give him my respect before he died.
Then came his funeral and my shock at the world#039s view of this man I had failed to value.
Over a thousand people came to his funeral from across the country, men and women of high social status, people I didn#039t know my father even knew.
The church where the funeral was held was small and in an isolated village, hard to get to.
The church could not hold a quarter of the number of people who showed up. Before the service could begin, the organizers had to run electric cables outside to the street and then find speakers to attach them to.
Chairs had to be found. Traffic had to be re-routed.
All these people came to honor my dad and hear his son deliver the eulogy. I have no idea what I said.
I believe it was God speaking and it was for those who came. I was merely the conduit.
I shook hands with a thousand people afterwards.
The comments of the people who came to the funeral helped me see my father in a different light and led me to reflect more deeply on events in our shared life.
I continue to learn that I was the problem in the relationship with my father and it#039s the same problem I bring to most of my relationships.
I#039m impatient, judgmental, overly critical, and reluctant to consider any point of view other than mine.
Application: Before reacting to others, say, Hang on! What does today#039s QT say?
