Ugliness…
Hollywood’s best writers and producers cannot outdo the stories of the Bible. The story of Judah and Tamar is just one example, but a good one. Bottom line, Judah was quick and eager to cast the death sentence on his daughter-in-law for being pregnant “as a harlot” until he found out that HE was the father. Tamar, and the twins in her womb, were spared, Judah was humbled, and key figures in the line of Christ became a reality. Their names were Perez and Zerah–children born our of wedlock by Tamar’s father-in-law. Sordid.
As I was reading this account, however, I was reminded of God’s hand, even in the most unusual of situations and degraded human activities. Somehow, in majesty of God’s wisdom and the abundance of His grace, He makes something stunningly good out of our worst ugliness and failures. He redeems our sin actions whenever He wants. The irony is that often our sin is the very thing He turns into a precious gem for adorning His Kingdom. That’s grace. Only God would even think of such maneuvers.
When I reflect on my life, I realize that my ungliest moments were turning points in my spiritual journey–key steps that God used to shape me into who I am today. It makes me grateful for a God who can do such things. It makes me hopeful that God will still take my stupidity and make something Kingdom worthy out of them. It humbles me to know that God can salvage something beautiful out of my ugliness.
So, what do you need to offer to God today? In what do you need to be humbled–to face the truth of something that you actually did. Maybe it’s time to be a like Judah, the man who ate humble pie after quickly casting judgement on another even while overlooking his own (and maybe bigger) issue.
God loves to redeem our human weakness into Kingdom strengths.
Cool.
