Corona Devo 706

Raise your hand if you might admit to some craziness in your family history.

Just out of curiosity, as we look at the "limbs" on our family trees would we be shocked to find:

• Dysfunction?
• Family members giving bad advice or poor counsel
• Crafty...or should we say "conniving", (even) wicked or God-opposing family members
• Those who lure/plot/pull us into sinful plans
• Lust leading to sin, betrayal and family brokenness?
• Innocent people getting deeply hurt or (emotionally/physically/sexually/spiritually/mentally) traumatized because of another's selfish desire to please only themselves?

Am I describing my family?

Could I be describing your family?

Are we reviewing a family from the Bible?

The answer is: All of the above.

I love my family, and I imagine you do too.  But we’re all human, and where humanity “lives”, sin lives too.  Our "families" are filled with love, but tainted with sin, and striving to serve our Heavenly Father by living within His boundaries (heart, word, and action) is our only hope for "functional" connected families instead of dysfunctional and disconnected families.

King David (in the Old Testament) had multiple wives (it was acceptable at that time), many brothers, and a big family tree.  Add power and status to that mix, and it becomes very difficult to maintain a functional family.  The list stated earlier might relate to our families, but I drew it out specifically from David's family tree.

Hold on to your dysfunctional hat...here we go:

Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. And Amnon, her half brother, fell desperately in love with her. (2) Amnon became so obsessed with Tamar that he became ill. She was a virgin, and Amnon thought he could never have her.

(3) But Amnon had a very crafty friend—his cousin Jonadab. He was the son of David’s brother Shimea… (4) …So Amnon told him, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

(5) “Well,” Jonadab said, “I’ll tell you what to do. Go back to bed and pretend you are ill...Tell (your father) you’ll feel better if she prepares it as you watch and feeds you with her own hands.”...

(8) When Tamar arrived at Amnon’s house, she went to the place where he was lying down so he could watch her mix some dough...

(11) But as she was feeding him, he grabbed her and demanded, “Come to bed with me, my darling sister.”

(12) “No, my brother!” she cried. “Don’t be foolish! Don’t do this to me! Such wicked things aren’t done in Israel. (13) Where could I go in my shame? And you would be called one of the greatest fools in Israel. Please, just speak to the king about it, and he will let you marry me.”

(14) But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her. (15) Then suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. “Get out of here!” he snarled at her.

(18) So the servant put her out and locked the door behind her. She was wearing a long, beautiful robe, as was the custom in those days for the king’s virgin daughters. (19) But now Tamar tore her robe and put ashes on her head. And then, with her face in her hands, she went away crying.

(20) Her brother Absalom saw her and asked, “Is it true that Amnon has been with you? Well, my sister, keep quiet for now, since he’s your brother. Don’t you worry about it.” So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in her brother Absalom’s house.

(21) When King David heard what had happened, he was very angry. (22) And though Absalom never spoke to Amnon about this, he hated Amnon deeply because of what he had done to his sister.

(23) Two years later... Absalom invited all the king’s sons to come to a feast....(28) Absalom told his men, “Wait until Amnon gets drunk; then at my signal, kill him! Don’t be afraid. I’m the one who has given the command. Take courage and do it!” (29) So at Absalom’s signal they murdered Amnon. Then the other sons of the king jumped on their mules and fled...

(37) ...Absalom fled to his grandfather... (38) He stayed there in Geshur for three years. (39) And King David, now reconciled to Amnon’s death, longed to be reunited with his son Absalom.  ~2 Samuel 13:1-8, 11-15, 18-23, 28-29, 37-39

And we think we have family skeletons in the closet?

I'm not sure if it is comforting or frightening to realize that the dysfunction that we can experience from generation to generation has been happening for generations and generations. 

David and his family may have different stories than us, but perhaps some of their sinful escapades hit close to home.  

Did you notice there were family members that committed sin, family members that encouraged and enabled sin, family members that held (and acted upon) resentment, family members that got out of dodge when placed in the middle of sin (the other sons of the king jumped on their mules and fled. ~2 Samuel 13:29), and family members that chose to forgive (And King David, now reconciled to Amnon’s death, longed to be reunited with his son Absalom.  ~2 Samuel 13:34).

Every family member (then and now) has choices because where humanity “lives”, sin lives too, but if we love Jesus, then the Holy Spirit lives and loves through us, and guides us.  

Choosing not to sin creates a healthy, functional, family environment.  And choosing Godly ways to deal with, disengage, and process dysfunctional family stuff is always a healthy choice...for us and for our family tree.

If we’re honest, there might be a lot of dysfunction embedded in our bloodlines and far beneath the "headlines" that most people "read" about our families.  But that's because we are all broken people.  

And the dysfunction that separates families has been around as long as people have been around.  But God has also always been around and He can always be "found".  

If our family tree contains "characters" and characteristics that we do not want to inherit or "pass on", then jump on your mules and flee (2 Samuel 13:29) from the negative and sinful---and embrace/seek/become the positive limb in your family tree. God can do that in our lives.

History does not need to repeat itself. We can be the generation that lives for God instead of self (as best we can).

Blessings,

Sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com