I am a father of three. Each of my kids—Joshua, Hannah, and Caleb—is a gift from God; a blessing beyond measure. One of my recurring prayers is that my children easily exceed anything I have done to bring God glory in my life. Or put a different way—a more proper way—I pray that God uses my kids to glorify Him in far greater ways than He may have chosen to use me in His kindness. I want my kids to be better than me, and I define better as not having a more comfortable life, but by being used by God how He sees fit. We cover a lot of ground in this week’s session, one that is always challenging in each cycle because of the overlap between Isaac and Jacob. Moses, inspired by the Holy Spirit, saw fit not to give us a clean break between these two. Instead, he introduces us to Jacob and Esau, then goes back to Isaac for a while, and then returns to Jacob down the road. But while the chronology might be a bit challenging, don’t let that cause you to miss this vital truth: that God is continuing His promise to Abraham through the generations. And as we see that big idea, we also will see a glimpse of Isaac experiencing what I pray for my kids.

The Recurring Issue of Childlessness

But before we can get to that, we need to talk about a theme that runs through the early chapters of Genesis: childlessness. Sarah struggled with it. Here we see Rebekah struggle with it. We will soon see Rachel struggle with it as well. And as I type the word struggle, it feels wrong. Struggle isn’t strong enough. Barrenness was crushing to the women in that day, as it still is for women today. We have to ask ourselves why God chose this way. Why choose women who were barren to form a nation—a nation through which the promised Deliverer was promised to come? He could have given anyone to Abraham as a wife—He was not stuck with one barren woman. Let’s be clear: God is sovereign. Choosing Sarah, and then Rebekah, and then Leah was not a matter of making divine lemonade out of the only lemons laying around. No, God chose this family plagued by barrenness for a reason. Because through it, He would demonstrate that He is the One bringing His promise to pass and He would do so through miraculous means. God was showing that this family was special, not because of who they were, but because of what He would do through them.

Same Problem, Different Solution

And that takes us to Jacob, well, Jacob and Esau to be more precise. And how God used Isaac, at least on this one occasion, in ways that were greater than his father Abraham. If you remember, in their desperation, Abraham and Sarah, chose to take matters into their own hands when they could not have a son. Abraham had a son, Ishmael, with Hagar leading to all sorts of problems. But notice what Isaac does in this week’s passage:

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. — Genesis 25:21

Isaac did not run to a mistress in his distress—he ran to God. I don’t know if Isaac knew the story of his older half-brother, but I have to imagine that he did. And if so, surely that factored into this actions. He learned from his father’s mistake and didn’t repeat it. And at the same time, he was uniquely suited to understand how God provides a child to the childless—he was proof of that!

Are We Abraham or Isaac?

So here’s the question: who are we more like, Abraham or Isaac? Do we tend to take matters into our own hands and try to “fix” our “problems” or do we turn to God and trust in Him? Notice that I put both fix and problems in quotes. You likely understand why I put fix in quotes: our fixes are not fixes. When we run ahead apart from God, we will break things, not fix them. But I but problems in quotes too because often what we think of as a problem is really not. It wasn’t a problem for Sarah and Rebekah to be childless. God was going to make good on His promise. Sure it was difficult, but it was not a problem. We need to remember that and we need to help our kids see that this week. God’s covenant would come to pass no matter the “problems” His people experienced or the “fixes” they attempted apart from Him. And God continues to make good on His promises the same way today.

When God gives a promise, he always tries our faith. Just as the roots of trees take firmer hold when they are contending with the wind; so faith takes firmer hold when it struggles with adverse appearances.” – Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843) [1]

Preschool Tip: This week be sure to help your kids understand that God’s promises are binding. God never goes back on a promise and He never lacks the power to bring one of His promises to fruition. While our preschoolers will at times experience broken promises—sometimes unintentionally and sometimes intentionally—they need to learn as soon as they can that God will never, ever break a single of His promises. They can trust God completely! Kids Tip: This session provides you with the great opportunity to introduce your kids to how unexpected Abraham’s family was in terms of being the family God would use to bring blessing—Jesus—to the world. Here we see the issue of barrenness, and beginning next week we will see how unworthy Jacob was to be an ancestor of Jesus. This is an important theme for our kids to see for two reasons. First, they need to understand that the people in Scripture were not perfect—they are not superstars. They were ordinary people like us. Sinners in need of a Savior. Second, they need to see that God can work through whomever He pleases—that He can, and will, use any of us for His glory. [1] Robert Murray McCheyne, in The Works of Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1874), 402. https://vimeo.com/279048664