The Lesson Judah Won’t Soon Forget by Kathleen Derbyshire
Have you been taught a lesson by someone completely unexpected?
Judah is right there with you. The Lord has used a woman to implement His plan from the day the plan was created. Ignoring that throughout the Bible could be detrimental to all of us, for we all need to know that women were part of His plan from the beginning.
Biblical Ground Work: Genesis 38
Judah, against God’s requirements, married a Canaanite woman named Shua. With her he had three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. He got a wife, from Canaan, for his eldest son Er. He was evil so he was killed by God. Then Judah gave her to Onan to fulfill the family laws in those days. This law kept women from being removed from families upon the death of her husband. BUT Onan was having none of that, so God killed him too.
Judah, obviously shocked overs his sons’ death, and probably blamed it on Tamar instead of obeying God, he sent Tamar to her own house as a double widow. He is not having his last son killed by God through Tamar.
Tamar, being the ingenious woman God made her to be, came up with a plan that would fulfill her need to carry on the family name. As a result she is brought back into the family and Judah moves back with his extended family.
Biblical Life Lesson: Your Teacher could be the person you are most trying to avoid.
I know this lesson more today than at any other time in my history. I got mad at God for advancing people in my field before me. In comes Michael Hyatt. He is a productivity guru. When I first got one of his emails, I got raging mad at God for not promoting me for doing the same work. Michael was new to the market (fairly new to productivity and goal setting) and thriving at reaching thousands while I was reaching tens. Argggggg!!!!!!
It was a humility lesson I will never forget because today, I listen to Michael’s podcast, Lead to Win, with his daughter Megan Hyatt Miller (who is now leading his company). I have a meeting with her on my bucket list. I want to become the Holy Productivity guru for busy Christian women.
Romans 8:28 is the guide for this kind of humility. Strength with humility are part of God’s plan for you. He wants you humble, before Him and others, knowing that He is in complete control of everything that is happening. Plus He wants you strong so you can handle what the world throws at you.
Both of those great heart habits are the bi-products of the fruit of the Spirit. When you are growing from Christ you are becoming more humble and stronger.
A humble woman is not a weak person but a strong person.
A humble woman knows when God is trying to strengthen her.
This strong woman knows how to humble herself before the Lord.
The Teacher
Tamar was used to teach this very concept to Judah. He left his family, AND GOD, to venture out on his own. His weakness was apparent by how evil his sons had become. God brings Tamar (a gentile) into the picture and she teaches Judah how to humble himself and become the strong man the Lord needs him to be for the future.
Who has taught you this lesson? How can you advance your Kingdom Cause because of it?
Kathleen is a Christian Author and creator of The Bible Gals community for women on Facebook. She loves writing because her writings reflect what she really has a passion to accomplish – Empower busy Christian women to become more purposeful toward their Kingdom Cause so the Kingdom advances and lives are changed including their own.
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