11.2.26 – Dysfunctional at Its Best

Election season is upon us. Who will run our country for the coming years? Democrats? Republicans? Hopefully, the people who shine light on the path of the just (Prov. 4:18). The mudslinging is at an all-time high. It is not just at the candidates, but now, from the left, it is at all the Trump supporters. Wow. What will we get for the next season? I do not know, but I know I am focused on Jeremiah 33:25–26, John 8:39, and Psalm 1, while surrendering to Daniel 2:21!

If we have learned anything these past months of political rhetoric, we have seen that life is complicated! Family can be even more complicated! Have you ever noticed that the entire book of Genesis, the foundation of our faith, is about broken, dysfunctional families and the attempt to restore them over time? Unfortunately, in the process, most failed. Some kept it at bay. Others made progress, all the way to Joseph. Challenged families... I do not think anyone is exempt from this reality. However, if you are from the "Leave It to Beaver" household, then I want to congratulate you, and please keep modeling the ideal, and the rest of us will catch on :-)

Science has validated that all of life is predicated on the first few years of our development and what philosophies have been imparted into our lives through the formative years, even without our choosing. The "torah" (instructions) that we were reared in, whether Scriptural or not, have formulated a lot of our current responses to challenges, stress, belief, and partly to our destinies.

With every passing week in our Torah studies through Genesis, we find the storyline appears more convoluted than the membranes of cellular mitochondria and as diversely complicated as a single DNA strand. Since Adam and his honey bunny, things have gotten more complicated. Take, for instance, the mother and father of our faith, Abraham and Sarah (Isa. 51:1–4; John 8:53, 56). How many times did Abraham put his honey bunny in awkward positions? Oodles and boodles of times! Amazingly, she followed... possibly to her own detriment?? She followed him out of the Ur of Chaldees (flame and judgment). She went along with Abraham's self-protective scheme when he shipped her off to Pharaoh's harem. She let him lead her across unknown lands...

In a few weeks' Torah portion, Vayetze, we will see the results of family life when favoritism is shown (Gen. 25:28). Where did it originate? How did Isaac and Rebekah fall into that? Did they learn it from Abraham and Sarah, with Isaac and Ishmael? Inquiring minds want to know, but problem-solving minds want to rectify the problem :-)

Sometimes, hurtful events from the past dictate our responses in the future. It seems that from the time Sarah was betrayed in Egypt, that event impacted her mindset for the rest of her days toward those around her.

She did not mince words that she hated Hagar, a hatred she initiated (Gen. 16:1–10). Through that hatred, she demanded that Abraham "get rid of that handmaid." Why would Abraham do that? How much does guilt act as a motivator? We can only speculate, but we, speaking of me, myself, and I, can surely identify, can we not? What is the resulting trauma to Ishmael? How does he respond? Why does Isaac seek out Ishmael after the Akedah? Why does Esau marry Ishmael's daughter? What happens to the marriage of Abraham and Sarah? Why do they end up in two separate locations? Why is the only expression of Abraham's love for Sarah found in the text about her death (Gen. 23:2)? Sarah compares herself with Hagar. Does Abraham compare her? Which one is obedient? Which one is gentle? All speculation, but it provides a modern-day reality to most fractured relationships.

Do we see any of these learned behaviors in the life of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel? Does Jacob learn favoritism from Isaac and Rebekah? Are his two wives any different from Abraham's?

Life is full of questions, is it not? Sometimes we get so obsessed with the past that those questions and/or those realities cling to us like a ball and chain around our ankles.

In the lives of the patriarchs, there are more lessons than you can shake a stick at! As we have discussed before, we are all good at finding what we want to find, because we live in a world that thrives on confirmation bias. What is incredible about a day-to-day relationship with Yeshua is the fresh insights we receive coming to ourselves (lekh lekha) and the beautiful destiny that we are being called to.

Life is filled with disappointments from the past—some toward us and others we have caused. The future, however, can be as fresh and new as the sunrise and His mercies, which are new every morning (Lam. 3:22–23; Ps. 30:5; Ps. 113:1–9).

Regardless of the election results and the mudslinging, we have a life to live, experience, and influence... Lekh Lekha—go discover yourself under His watchful guidance.

Shalom!

Happy second day of the week!

Alan

www.lightintorah.org

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