It May Not have Been Your Fault but Now it's Your Responsibility

Tamar in good sisterly fashion went to her brother Amnon's house to make him some food because he was sick.  What she didn't know was that she was being set up to be raped by him, (2 Samuel 13:1-22). It is said that women are most frequently abused by people they know, but who would ever think of your brother raping you?  Well that's what happened to Tamar.  As you can only imagine, that left her in complete despair.  Even after her other brother, Absalom found out about it and avenged her by killing Amnon, Tamar was still left with the shame, despair, brokenness and damage to herself esteem.  She was a walking wound! I imagined she wasn't good girlfriend material.  She probably didn't act in ways others expected a king's daughter to act, probably didn't demonstrate great Christian character and probably could be described as having a bad or nasty attitude from those her didn't know her history.  She was no longer the Tamar she knew herself to be, she was now infected with pain. 

Know anybody like that? Our churches are filled with people who have sustained terrible interruptions to their good lives.  We do not know everybody's history. We don't understand the hidden pains people carry from day to day.  But if we look beyond our own feelings for a minute, we can see pain in people's behaviors. Do you think that might attest for so many injuries we all sustain in church? We have all been hurt in our lives by one person or another especailly in church.  Even though we may not have been responsible for the injury, we now carry it.  We're responsible for it now. We do not have the right to throw our attitudes and misbehaviors on our sisters and brothers in Christ because we hurt. We don't not have the right to be a carrier of pain.  It is our responsibility to get healed!

How's your attitude? Jesus tells us to come to Him all who are burdened and heavy laden.  He said He would give us REST,(Mattthew 11:28).What are you going to do about your hang ups, your issues, your pain?  Go to God so you can have a great life and become a carrier of love.