A daily Bible reading habit offers food for thought, knowledge of God and his ways, and every once in a while a shocking surprise!
On our private Facebook widows group Lifeboat, we've had several widows who gave birth after their husbands died, and a few who's husband's died when their children were very young babies. My heart goes out to these women. As I try to pray for them intelligently, I wonder about their daily routines and how they feel. When I put myself in their shoes, I can pray for specific things for them. And sometimes I struggle with the hard questions life's fairness and suffering in general.
One particular day I was thinking about these women while doing my Bible reading in 1 Chronicles. I won't come right out and say it's boring, but I will say the only time one would read 1 Chronicles is if they've promised to read through the entire Bible, or if they want fall asleep at night!
In order to stay on task I had to literally follow the lines with my finger. And then God socked it to me! As I was thinking about these widows who were pregnant when their husband's died this verse came up:
1 Chronicles 2:24 (NIV)
After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Abijah the wife of Hezron bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.
Oh my goodness! There was a pregnant widow in Bible times!
It was as if God told me, "I know. I've been through this with other widows, too. I put this verse here for you, and I leaned your thoughts towards this verse today. Nothing takes me by surprise. They're all in my hands, they'll be OK."
By the way, Ashhur, the baby born to the widow, grew up to be the founding father of the village of Tekoa in Israel. This town still exists! This baby, raised by a widow, made a name for himself and left a strong legacy that has survived for thousands of years!
This reminds me of another verse:
Romans 8:18 (NIV)
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
God has a good purpose and hope for widows today, too; for Joannah, Crystal, Christine, Wendy, Carol and many more . . .
♥
ferree
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