Have you ever asked yourself, “How can God use me?” Maybe you are bone-weary after months of virtual schooling and social distancing. Maybe you are heart-broken. Perhaps your faith is flickering so faintly that you wonder whether it has, in fact, burned out. Or maybe you compare yourself to those you believe to be more like Jesus—more loving, more compassionate, more steeped in Scripture—and think that God probably prefers those who are not struggling.

For the feeble and trembling, the story of Jacob is a warm fire to gather around. It makes rubbish the idea that God only seeks out wise, good, and accomplished people to be his followers and to do his work. In the second half of Genesis, we are offered an unflinching look at an imperfect man. If every family is to some extent or another dysfunctional, the dysfunction in Jacob’s family grew like unchecked cancer. And yet—and yet!—Jacob was chosen. His appalling failures did not cut him off from the never-ceasing flow of God’s grace. The Gospel was and is the best news for sinners.