“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham” ~ Matthew 1:1

Occasionally, I get in a snit with God over the fact that I don’t think what happened to my husband was particularly fair.  If He had only let me decide, we would still be happily-ever-aftering, a cute little family of three, instead of two.  If I had the choice, my version of fair would have worked out much differently.

Fortunately, God is patient with me during these snits, and ever manages to teach my hard head a few lessons through the process.

For example…

What if Tamar’s first husband (and second) hadn’t died?
What if Rahab hadn’t been driven into a life of prostitution?
What if Ruth’s first husband hadn’t died?
What if Bathsheba hadn’t caught the eye of a king, which led to the murder of her husband?
What if Mary hadn’t been willing to become pregnant, before getting married?

In the lineage of Christ, there is a whole lot of “not fair” – at least if you look through the eyes of the women that were experiencing it at.  The life experiences that each of these women had definitely had their low points.  Being widowed is never fun.  I can’t imagine life as a prostitute was anything other than horrifying.  And Bathsheba and Mary most certainly faced public shame and scorn for the rest of their lives.  But because each of these women allowed God to use the not fair portions of their lives, He did something great through them.

Now, I’m not saying that my son and I will go down in the record books, just because I am a widow.  But I am saying that God can do something mighty and incredible with the beautiful and broken parts of our lives.  When things don’t seem fair, keep trusting Him.  The verses are true – He really does work everything for good.