In Honor of Mothers

 God chose a strange assortment of mothers to be in the line of Christ. Here's one example:



Tamar…  (Genesis 38)


Tamar wondered what was wrong with her husband-selecting skills. Husband #1 was wicked, so God killed him. She married his brother, but he was a jerk and God killed him too. Her bio clock was ticking loudly when Tamar and her father-in-law Judah turned eyes on the youngest brother. Since he was just a kid, Judah advised Tamar to go back to her father’s household and wait for the little guy to grow up. (That’s how they did it back then). But Tamar’s hubby-track-record made Judah nervous, so when it came time for little brother to marry, his dad picked a safer bride. 

When word came through the grapevine that her double-crossing father-in-law had married off little brother and bypassed her altogether, bitterness set in. Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law. Only when she revealed that she was pregnant with twins did he discover who he’d slept with. Talk about a shock! Tamar got her babies and her revenge, but at great cost to herself and her family.

When bitterness sets in, minds close, hearts harden, and we say and do things we never imagined we would. Bitterness is staircase that leads downward to broken dreams, broken relationships, and broken fellowship with God. But God promises to redeem even our worst mistakes when we trust Him with them. He can turn bitterness into praise, hurt into joy. Despite the fact that Tamar’s son Perez was conceived in disgrace, God chose him to be a great-great-granddaddy of Jesus Christ.

Final Thought: What has bitterness cost you? God will redeem it if you let go and trust Him with it.