CHAPEL NOTES THE DARK SIDE OF GIFTEDNESS The following is an excerpt from an October 27, 2021, chapel presentation by Philip Miller ’04. Listen to his full message at cedarville.edu/MillerOct21. In the brightness of all of our gifting, there’s a shadow side. And if it’s not dealt with, it will undo you. It will rot you out from the inside. Jacob is the twin of Esau, sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau becomes Daddy’s favorite; Jacob is a Mama’s boy. This is a recipe for disaster. Years pass. Esau comes back from the field, exhausted. Jacob’s got a stew on; Esau’s hungry. Jacob says, “Sell me your birthright now.” Jacob exploits him in this moment. He cheats him out of his inheritance. Jacob also cheated Esau out of Isaac’s blessing. It says in Genesis 27:41: Esau said, “I will kill my brother, Jacob.” So Jacob flees to his uncle, Laban. On his way, he encounters God in a dream. God renews the covenant He made with Abraham and Isaac. Jacob ends up marrying both of Laban’s daughters and managing Laban’s herds. Jacob ends up conniving, crafty, scheming, devious, and with a huge amount of herds of his own. After 20 years, God says, “It’s time to go back to the land of your fathers, and I’ll be with you.” But Jacob remembers the fury in Esau’s eyes. He sends an entourage to gauge Esau’s feelings. They come back and say, “Esau’s coming to meet you. And he’s got 400 men with him.” In desperation, Jacob cries out for help. He’s scared. And he’s starting to sound humble. Now we can sketch a little bi t about hi s character . He ’ s controlling. He’s manipulating. He will bend the rules to come out ahead in life. We also know he wants a blessed and prosperous life. But his greatest weakness is on display — his selfreliance. Jacob looks out for number one. He’s got a dark side to his great giftedness. Jacob’s at the center; God’s on the fringe, at least up until the night of Jacob’s transformation. Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him into the breaking of the day. God wounds Jacob’s body to heal his soul. God wrenches his hip to bring Jacob to the very end of himself, to bring him to helplessness, weakness, surrender. He finally gets God’s blessing by grace. Israel inherits the blessings of God not through power but through frailty, not through giftedness, but through surrender. I want to leave you with three takeaways. First, our strength may in fact be our weakness. Could it be that the thing you’re best at is actually the greatest danger to your life? Not because the gift is bad, but because it cultivates self-reliance in your own heart, self-sufficiency, selfsecurity. God operates on grace. You can’t earn it. Secondly, God may wound you to heal you. God is our friend, and the wounds of a friend can be trusted. Third thing — brokenness is the posture of blessedness. Children of God go through ups and downs and brokenness. And as we lose ourselves, we find ourselves as we are brought low. Philip Miller ’04 is Senior Pastor of The Moody Church in Chicago, Illinois. God may wound you to heal you. God is our friend, and the wounds of a friend can be trusted. 26 | Cedarville Magazine
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