You Bring the Present: A Women’s Christmas Devotional Sýnishorn

Tamar: It’s a Wonderful Life

Christmas can be a tough time of the year for a lot of women. Homeless shelters, soup kitchens,  prisons, and pews are full of women this time of year who have experienced deep levels of hurt, loss, and pain that have forced them to make decisions they never thought they would have to make. 

If we look carefully, a lot of these women experience trauma from a very young age from people that were supposed to take care of them, people who were supposed to protect them, keep them safe, but instead these women were abused, taken advantage of, and neglected. In response, this Christmas, they are facing feelings of unworthiness, pain, and loneliness, instead of joy and hope. Much like George Bailey in the ironically titled: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” some women are standing on the edge of a bridge wondering if it’s even worth it. 

Tamar could relate. Tamar was the wife of Judah’s first born son, Er. But because Er was terrible, God took him away. As a result, traditionally speaking, Tamar would marry Judah’s second son, for it was now Onan’s job to carry on the family line. Onan was evil too; he selfishly took matters into his own hands and prevented conception, so God took his life. Two husbands were now dead. But Tamar was not out of the woods yet. Judah believed that Tamar was a curse upon the men she married so instead of marrying her, himself, after his wife died, or giving her to Shelah (his third son), he put Tamar in limbo as a forever widow. He sent her away without any chance of remarrying. 

So, Tamar took things into her own hands. She covered herself with a veil and tricked Judah into conceiving a son with her. She became pregnant with twins. Judah found out Tamar was pregnant and almost had her put to death, but when she proved that he was the father, he admitted his guilt and brought her back into the family. It was here that the lineage of Christ continued with one of her twins, Perez, and the prophecy that Jesus would be the Lion of Judah was fulfilled. 

Tamar experienced a lot of hurt from the men who were supposed to be the ones providing for her and keeping her safe. She was forced to make decisions she never thought she would have to make. But it is still her name that is in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 2. Her pain, neglect, and choices were redeemed as she became another one of the broken and painful stories to share in Jesus’ family tree—a beautiful picture of how God cherishes the least of these, and no one is too far gone from being used for his glorious plan of hope for the world. Tamar’s situation was egregious, but through it we are given the salvation of the world; through it, we are brought the present of Jesus’s birth. She brought the gift through pain, suffering and loss, so that this Christmas you could know hope, so that you know you are seen and loved.

This Christmas you may be facing hurt and pain of the deepest level. You may have been betrayed and wronged by the people who should love you most. But God isn’t finished with your story, and there are others that need to hear it. The understanding that there is hope because there is a Savior who loves you is the gift that you bring to other women. The belief in his presence that washes away shame and guilt, that redeems the brokenness and hurt is the present you carry to others who are hurting. You are precious and have a purpose, and he has a plan to redeem your pain. Keep bringing the present.