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         And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. Genesis 38:13-14

People make promises to someone crying. “If you will just stop, then …..” Distress makes them uncomfortable, and they’ll promise about anything to see it end. Here’s the dilemma for the one who is hurting, though. Never are people more vulnerable to a promise-maker than when they are in great need.

Tamar married the first son of Judah. God took him out because he was evil. She married the next son of Judah. He was also wicked, and God killed him too. Though God was protecting Tamar, it probably didn’t feel like it to her. Maybe she wondered if she was a curse. After all, men connected to her were dying. Can you imagine her confusion?   Judah stepped up to offer his youngest son, but Tamar would have to wait years for him because he was still young.

While others her age were having children, she was waiting. While others were enjoying their young families, she was waiting. What a painful day when she realized that Judah either forgot or disregarded the promise. Realizing that she might remain a widow forever, she took matters into her own hands. She dressed up like a prostitute and waited at the gate where those attending a Canaanite sheep-shearing festival would pass. There, she hoped to snare Judah so that he would sleep with her.  She just might get her heir. The one who had broken the promise would be tricked.

Those who intentionally break promises are betrayers. And here’s what I need to remember.  Never are they in more danger than when I put them in God’s hands instead of my own. Forgiveness is taking someone off my hook and putting them on God’s hook. At that point, it’s time to review the Promise Keeper.  If I start remembering every promise He has made and the ones He’s already honored, I will lay down my need for revenge. 

Father, Jesus believed You rule righteously and entrusted His betrayers to You.  He had the power to punish, to make things fair, but He left it to You. I walk in His sandaled footsteps. Amen

And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Genesis 38:6-7

This is an example of how God deals with evil. It is but one example. He put a wicked man to death to spare Tamar and their descendants from whatever evil Er would have committed.  But here’s the question that often comes next ~ Why does God annihilate the wicked in this particular story but not others? This is the reason some say it’s hard for them to trust God. The inconsistency in His responses is a stumbling block.

There is mystery in all of this, mystery we must embrace alongside trust.  As much as we might try to explain everything in a way that fashions a box of our own making, a box that makes us feel safer, the ways of God can’t be explained nor predicted.  What we can know for sure is who He is.  Because He is holy, we can relinquish the angst of our questions.    

Some of us have seen those who do evil up close.  Initially, they came disguised to gain an entrance.  Up close, they delighted in doing their harm and, in the aftermath, we called the pain senseless. Some of us sunk into a deep depression.  Lost in the fog of disorientation, God kept speaking, wooing, and inviting each of us to bring Him the pain we suffered.  We discovered we could step outside of the middle of the story onto the solid ground of the kingdom, by faith.

For every evil committed, there is a reckoning. For every devastation, there is a promise.  God reveals Himself to the brokenhearted and promises to redeem their story in a way that eclipses their tragedy.  

Walk into the darkness with those today who think You are absent. Amen

Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.  Genesis 37:36

Do I ever consider what will happen to my family a hundred years from now?  If I’m wise, I will remember the story of Isaac and Ishmael.  Why bring up them in the story of Joseph?  Because the Midianites is an overlapping term for Ishmaelites, the descendants of Ishmael.

What’s really happening here is this ~ Joseph was sold to blood relatives.  If ancestry.com had existed, and if everyone involved had done a genealogy study, they would have discovered that they were related.  Did the slave traders know that they purchased their own flesh and blood?  Probably not.

Ishmael was once the favored son of Abraham; a firstborn and an heir.  But through no fault of his own, he found himself in disfavor once Isaac was born.  He and his mother, Hagar, were turned away to an unforgiving desert existence.  God did not forget them and they not only were spared, but went on to prosper.  Ishmael had 12 sons and they populated much of the Middle East.

God used Ishmael’s descendants to get him to Egypt.  In God’s grand redemptive narrative, there are unexpected twists and turns that are quite stunning.  Even though family plots are complicated, God’s purposes are never thwarted.  As badly as we can mess things up, God is never stumped in how to save, how to redeem, and how to accomplish what was written before time.

Joseph couldn’t appreciate what his slavery meant.  Neither can we.  But consider how rich his worship was at the end of his life.  As he looked back, he could see evidences of God’s glory throughout his own storyline.  Amazed, his view of God had to be enlarged beyond comprehension.

Can I trust God enough today with the seeming dead ends, tragedies, and unresolved conflicts in my own life?  I cannot even begin to imagine how He will work with the dark threads of my own story to bring about another Joseph-kind of narrative worth reading.

On the way to Egypt, Joseph lay in the back of a caravan.  He was bound, dirty, nameless, and despairing.  Later, he was crowned, given a new name to match his level of leadership, and went on to save his entire nation from extinction.  Oh, the difference a few decades makes for those who wait on God.

What often casts me into unbelief is downright ludicrous.  Bind me to the miracles of my spiritual ancestors.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. Genesis 37:35

This is a tough scene. A brokenhearted father was being comforted by sons who were more enemies than family. They had dipped Joseph’s coat into a pool of goat’s blood, handed it to their father, knowing he could make only one conclusion. His son had been killed by a wild animal. Not one of them was going to tell Dad the truth. What did they do on the other side of their lying?  Made some attempt to comfort their father.

It’s interesting who often turns up for funerals. Besides friends, family members, and close acquaintances, curiosity brings others who might want to see how the family handles pain and loss. While this only describes the motives of a few, these people are momentarily elevated to the powerful position of comforters.

God’s people should always comfort with integrity. There are relationships where there has been wounding. Things have never been mended. Comfort should be expressed in a way that is consistent with the level of the relationship. The one who is grieving is vulnerable and can’t sort through the intentions behind the embraces he receives. He is also childlike and looks to others to handle his powerless moments well.

Jacob refused to be comforted. I wonder if, in his gut, he knew that there had been foul play. The one who weeps should never be put in a position to have to second-guess the motives of those who appear compassionate.

Help me always be ‘true.’ Amen

And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat. Genesis 37:25-25a

A group of grown men seized their own flesh and blood brother, stripped him, threw him into a pit, and then commenced to sit down and eat a meal. They were immune to the despair they inflicted.

Consider how callousness starts. Brothers and sisters, even very young, reach out to hit their sibling and discover a surprising sense of glee when they realize they can make them cry. Good parents come and try to instill empathy. “You hurt your sister. Tell her you’re sorry!” And yet, the apology is hard to muster. Cruelty is in our fallen nature.

How will I develop keen sensitivity to others’ pain? How will I feel another’s sadness when I see pools of tears in their eyes? How will I feel enough remorse when my need for revenge caused me to injure someone profoundly? How will I come to regret an angry outburst against my child when I hear him whimpering in his room? Without God, the callouses of my heart grow thicker with the years. I can hear weeping and still walk away unmoved.

But with God, I am affected and changed by His Spirit that lives inside. When I see someone’s pain, His compassion rises and urges me to express it. When I wound another with my angry words, His Spirit convicts me and opens my eyes to see the damage. In this life, I will continue to sin, but when I do, I will discover that it’s possible to feel how God feels about it.  Spending time in the presence of God sharpens my recognition of good and evil and gives me the tender, teachable spirit of a toddler.

Spiritual regeneration happens when God turns back the clock to transform my hardened heart into someone with childlike sensitivities. No matter my age, I should be putty in His hands as He fashions my heart to beat like His.

Make me more aware of what moves you. Amen

 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Genesis 37:26-27

Older brothers sell their younger brother into slavery for money. The thought is repelling. I would be naïve if I believed that only ancient cultures are this brutal. 

Several years ago, when a poor family in Cambodia accepted money from loan sharks, they believed they had only one way to pay what was demanded. They took their 12-year-old daughter to a local hospital. Doctors issued a certificate of virginity. Her parents then delivered her to a hotel, where a man raped her over a period of two days. This girl fled her home a few years later to find a safe house.

 “That’s in Cambodia!” many say. Consider Atlanta. Atlanta’s illegal sex trade has grown to 290 million dollars. Some were sold to sex traffickers by family members.

How cold does a heart have to be a sell a child? This kind of hardheartedness is not the momentary kind. The conscience of a family member who does such a thing died a slow death years ago. Child victims like Joseph all say the same thing. The worst pain is not the pain inflicted by strangers. It is the searing agony they experience because their family betrayed them.

For over two decades, Joseph tried to process his brothers’ cruelty. They turned him over to strangers who carted him away as a slave. Never could he have conceived such a plot as he played on the plains of Hebron by day and slept under his father’s favor by night.  Many will live and die and never experience such betrayal. But for those who do, pursuing God will have rewards the likes most in the church will never experience. To the degree any of us have been hurt, God gives the same capacity to know Him and experience Him. This is redemption. He is the Redeemer.

Man does the unthinkable and I shudder. You did the unthinkable by sending Your Son to die. I tremble in awe. You are my treasure of the darkness. Amen

The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. John 1:9

The Hebrew word for light means ‘to illuminate.’   Jesus is the Illuminator.  At creation, when there was darkness and chaos, the Word said, ‘Let there be light.’ He shed some light on the world and brought order our of disorder.

Do you have a situation in your life that lacks clarity? Have you been asking God for understanding? Once He chooses to bestow the gift of light, His influence over darkened minds, seizes the landscape. He illumines what is cloudy. He puts a magnifying glass over the twisted strands of thread and all of a sudden, we can see the steps we need to take to untangle what is knotted.

Yesterday, we were lost in the fog. Today, we have discovered God’s plan. Yesterday, we were grasping at spiritual straws. Today, we have what we need in our hands. Yesterday, we had faith but no enlightenment. Today, our prayers have precision, and our faith has vision.

The Word of God gives light to the eyes. Today, God is going to be the Light giver across this dark landscape. For someone, He will cure spiritual blindness and allow them to see the light and glory of Jesus. For someone else, He will turn the light on a concept that correctly diagnoses what has held them captive. For a teacher, He will enlighten a passage and give spiritual understanding for Sunday’s lesson. For a mother, He will enlighten the spiritual condition of her child so that she can apply spiritual cures. For a business owner, God will enlighten the discord within his company and lead him to replace worldly business strategies with kingdom principles.

Light is a life-saving thing. When I need it, and when God gives it, I fall on my knees in gratitude. I am responsible to take the light to the darkness and bring the laws of heaven to this earth.

Oh, Light of the world, we are Your city on a hill. Amen

When [they shepherds] had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. Luke 2:17   What a person experiences after a spiritual mountaintop is often withheld from a storyline. After the shepherds saw the heavens open, and after they found Jesus, and after they witnessed what they saw, what happened next? Did they continue to believe? Did they keep track of Jesus until his parents took him to Egypt? We’re not told.    But we know the nature of faith and the nature of mountaintops and valleys. We know that not all the shepherds would have gone on to worship God with their lives. Holy moments dim with time. Daily living consumes.  Holy moments are rare.  Holy men who experience them and then go on to finish well are even rarer.   My own storyline has been dotted with more God moments than I deserved, and yet, they didn’t always carry me through the dark times.  There were moments I still doubted and battled hopelessness. It wasn’t that I didn’t remember the mountaintops. I did. But I couldn’t connect with them like I did just after they happened.    We’ll never know how many shepherds were on the hillside. We’ll never know if all of them left to go to Bethlehem. We’ll never know if they were all equally impacted by the baby in the manger. And we’ll never know how many went on to live changed lives from that time forward. But some did. God picks who will be privileged to witness the supernatural. For some of them, it will be the defining moment that forever changes the direction of their lives.   Take me back to the moments I need to review to be strengthened and re-purposed. Amen

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.  Isaiah 40:11

When an ancient king from the east made a trek through a desert landscape, the way was prepared beforehand by his people.  The road was inspected, repaired if needed, and all that would harm or obstruct his journey was removed.

Jesus came to prepare the way for His flock to walk the path to His kingdom.  The little Shepherd who napped in the manger would be the One who would make crooked paths straight.  He would remove each barrier of sin and condemnation.  He would defeat the foe who would lure people onto the wrong pathway.

Not only was He the little Shepherd but He was also the little Overseer of our souls.

For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.  I Peter 2:25 

He would be the caretaker of the inside world of those He loves.  He would expose sin, the sin that destroys us.  He would inspire repentance, a deep apology, and a heart change that restores life.  He would point to each crooked place in the human heart to make the paths straight without painful detours.  He would cheer on those who limped. He would pick up the lame until they could walk again.  He would help the feeble, working within each nuance of their emotional and spiritual limitations.  This little Shepherd would shepherd perfectly.  No one would be overlooked, and not one under His care would have reason to live in shame and dwell in hiding. 

Everyone has a deep desire to be known by one who loves them.  Because we were made for this, our soul strains to be under the care of one who sees it all and offers to shape an environment where we can thrive. 

You are the perfect Shepherd, the One who daily provides soul care if I let You. Give me the faith to let you define what is best for me without shunning Your influence.  Amen

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?  How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Psalm 13:1-2

The theme of waiting saturates the whole redemption story.  God waited so long to send a Savior after the fall of Adam and Eve.  Did they look for Jesus after they were banished from the garden?  If they understood the prophetic words God spoke over them, they did. 

In their lifetime, however, He didn’t come.  He didn’t restore them to paradise.  Things just got worse.  Their descendants loved to sin and the serpent, the god of this world, appeared to be the one who controlled everything. 

‘How long, O Lord?’ was the cry of God’s people.  Suffering appeared to have the last word as they waited for their Messiah.  It appeared that He was late and uncaring.  There was a faithful remnant who offered proclamations of faith in the darkness.  They endured the scourges of many enemies and the eventual captivity in Babylon.  They saw the destruction of their beautiful temple, waited four hundred more years through an interminable period of silence, and bent under the tyranny of Roman rule before Jesus came.  They didn’t recognize the Miracle when He came.  They never guessed that their answer was a baby sleeping in an animal’s cradle. 

Today, we still wait.  Emmanuel came once, stayed a while, but promised that He would come again. Why is He, again, waiting so long to rescue?  How can He restrain Himself from coming when evil is rampant upon the earth?  Waiting has so many unanswered questions. The challenge for me is to lament well and find the spiritual grit to make proclamations of faith. 

In every way you might be watching for His salvation this Christmastime, do not let Your trust in God be shaken.  Rest in the mystery of His timetable.  Grieve – but not without faith.  Expect ~ but not with a sense of entitlement.  Question ~ but not with a fist.  History will always reveal that love prevailed in the waiting. 

In my tears, give me the grace to trust You yet not live in denial and passivity.  Amen