by Susan Tuttle
Life can be hard, even unfair at times. Moments when other people blow into our lives and leave a trail of destruction behind. The question is, what do we do with the mess they leave behind?
Tamar, daughter of Kind David, experienced this. A princess, beautiful…her life full of promise until her brother Amnon’s lust got in the way. Amnon only saw what he wanted and took it, never once thinking of Tamar’s pain. He left her on his doorstep, broken. In the aftermath, out of her shame and disgrace, Tamar tore her gown and threw ashes on her head, an outward sign of her misery over what Amnon had taken from her.
Another brother, Absalom, found her, but rather than defending her he used her disgrace for his own plot of revenge against the brother he hated. He didn’t hold Amnon accountable, but rather told Tamar to keep quiet and go to his home. Her father, King David, even heard of what happened but did not stand up for her. The last words of Tamar’s story break my heart: “And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.” (2 Samuel 13:20)
No one told her any differently. A path of destruction wove through her life, and she didn’t know how to pick up the pieces. Alone. Forsaken. Taking on a shame that wasn’t hers. Have you ever felt her pain?
You don’t have to.
There is One who wants to replace the ashes of your broken life with beauty. One who wants to comfort and champion you. Listen to these words from Isaiah 61:
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion--
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
(Isaiah 61:1-3)
Read that again. Look at how He wishes to clothe you. Instead of ashes—a crown of beauty. In place of your cloak of despair—a garment of praise. And He desires to pour His joy over you, letting it wash away your mourning.
The pain you’re living in right now, the desolation, it was never meant to be. Yes, there are hurts that cut so deeply they need time to heal. But allow Him to heal them. Allow Him to comfort you. Because He didn’t mean for you to live a desolate life. Beloved, He loves you too much for that. While “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: [He] came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Not desolation. But abundance.
Things may happen to us that we have no choice over. But we do have a choice over how we respond to them. What will be the last sentence of your life? That you lived as a desolate woman? Or that you allowed God to heal you and lived an abundant life?
Don't let the enemy steal one more moment! Pick abundance and let His healing being.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
Life can be hard, even unfair at times. Moments when other people blow into our lives and leave a trail of destruction behind. The question is, what do we do with the mess they leave behind?
Tamar, daughter of Kind David, experienced this. A princess, beautiful…her life full of promise until her brother Amnon’s lust got in the way. Amnon only saw what he wanted and took it, never once thinking of Tamar’s pain. He left her on his doorstep, broken. In the aftermath, out of her shame and disgrace, Tamar tore her gown and threw ashes on her head, an outward sign of her misery over what Amnon had taken from her.
Another brother, Absalom, found her, but rather than defending her he used her disgrace for his own plot of revenge against the brother he hated. He didn’t hold Amnon accountable, but rather told Tamar to keep quiet and go to his home. Her father, King David, even heard of what happened but did not stand up for her. The last words of Tamar’s story break my heart: “And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.” (2 Samuel 13:20)
No one told her any differently. A path of destruction wove through her life, and she didn’t know how to pick up the pieces. Alone. Forsaken. Taking on a shame that wasn’t hers. Have you ever felt her pain?
You don’t have to.
There is One who wants to replace the ashes of your broken life with beauty. One who wants to comfort and champion you. Listen to these words from Isaiah 61:
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion--
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
(Isaiah 61:1-3)
Read that again. Look at how He wishes to clothe you. Instead of ashes—a crown of beauty. In place of your cloak of despair—a garment of praise. And He desires to pour His joy over you, letting it wash away your mourning.
The pain you’re living in right now, the desolation, it was never meant to be. Yes, there are hurts that cut so deeply they need time to heal. But allow Him to heal them. Allow Him to comfort you. Because He didn’t mean for you to live a desolate life. Beloved, He loves you too much for that. While “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: [He] came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Not desolation. But abundance.
Things may happen to us that we have no choice over. But we do have a choice over how we respond to them. What will be the last sentence of your life? That you lived as a desolate woman? Or that you allowed God to heal you and lived an abundant life?
Don't let the enemy steal one more moment! Pick abundance and let His healing being.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
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