I asked several ladies (about 17) who they saw as a triumphant woman in the Bible. I then asked them to be involved in the Mother’s Day special this past Sunday. Seven agreed. My devotions over the next several days will be the ones they chose.
May 11- Lady #1- Mary of Bethany
Lady #2- Tamar- Story found in Genesis 38
Judah had 3 sons-Er, Onan, and Shelah. He found a wife for Er named Tamar. But Er was wicked and the Lord put him to death (we are not told what his wickedness was). By custom, Onan was to marry Tamar. He knew the offspring would not be his so he spilled his seed on the ground (v.9). That was wicked and he also was put to death. That left Shelah to eventually marry Tamar. Judah convinced Tamar to wait, but Judah held back until finally Tamar figured “enough is enough.”
After Judah’s wife died, he was going to visit friends and Tamar heard about it. She dressed disguised herself and enticed him. She bargained for his ring, his cord and his staff as proof he would keep his word on bringing her a goat as payment for her services. Tamar conceived, and when Judah was told, he was going to have her burned to death. He changed his tune when she sent the ring, the cord, and the staff as proof of who the father was. She eventually had twins-Perez and Zerah. Perez is listed in the lineage of Jesus.
What an interesting story on so many angles! So unpredictable. Right smack dab in the middle of Joseph’s story. In chapter 38 it was Judah’s recommendation that they sell Joseph into slavery instead of just killing him. You know…out of sight out of mind. And why not make a little profit while we are at it? Judah was not an upstanding man. But his life was changed after this encounter with Tamar.
Sometimes unexpected events change us. Good and bad. Sometimes our lives are never the same. Nothing is ever wasted in God’s classroom. I’m reminded of Romans 8:28. I’m also reminded of James 1:2-4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Let’s learn from every experience that God moves in ways we don’t often expect.
God has so many lessons for us to learn if we open our eyes and our hearts to hear Him, Bill. Great story here!
Blessings!
The key, of course, is opening our eyes and hearts to hear. Thanks Martha.
Another thing (the list keeps getting bigger and bigger) that I don’t do enough… Treating every experience as a learning opportunity. Asking Jesus what He is trying to show me with each interaction, with each encounter, with each challenge, with each failure, with each success, with each mistake.
Asking myself, what am I learning from this, what could I have done differently to point others to Jesus.
When there is a success, it should be celebrated, but there still may be an opportunity for improvement. When I fail, the real failure is if I learn nothing from it.
Thanks for the reminder this morning.
I think you hit on something really important Ryan. We do tend to focus on the failures and forget to celebrate with victories. But as you also state, we need to see that even the victories can be opportunities for improvement. How could I have done that more efficiently? How could I have a tad bit more sensitive to that person? I know I need to take stock upon occasion.
Keeping in mind, every trial, everything we go through is for us to learn something, and to come out of that trial a stronger believer, be sanctified by Christ, and to be able to help the next person in a similar trial. If we are being honest, we could never learn the hard lessons without going through a trial. When everything is going great and seems easy, we get complacent and lazy. When we are tested our focus on God is much more intense and purposeful. The key is to be able to focus on God nonstop and see the lessons in both the good times and the trials. I will still be learning when the good Lord calls me home, but I sure do hope, He finds me better off at the end of my journey then the first day of my journey when I ask Jesus Christ to save me.
Your viewpoint is absolutely correct Gail. We need to keep learning, keep growing in Christ. That, in turn, means our faith is growing. If not for trials we would never really know how our faith is growing.
As I read this, I thought of how we often hear the phrase about Jesus: He was “from the tribe of Judah” or the “Lion of Judah.” I never stopped to consider Judah’s past. What joy and hope Judah’s story gives! To think God purposely and intentionally chose for His Son to come through such “flawed” lineage. Praise God, He redeems our mistakes and checkered pasts for His glory! So thankful to have time to visit with you this morning, Pastor Bill! You are such a blessing.
I agree Cheryl. I like to point people to his lineage in Matthew 1. Talk about flawed people! And the women mentioned there are Gentiles, a pretender, and flawed. Thanks for visiting Cheryl. Always nice to have you come by.