10 May 2026 - 4 Mothers - Pastor Clarance Shashi

Well, today being uh Mother's Day, I want to talk about some mothers.

None of you here, don't worry, don't get don't get nervous.

I want to talk about four mothers in particular, and uh, these are the mothers that are mentioned in the lineage of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In the first book of the New Testament, the book of Matthew, the first chapter starts with the record of the lineage of Jesus.

So the lineage in this chapter highlights the link from Abraham right up to Jesus, and this is to show that by virtue of his lineage he fulfills the prophecies about the coming Messiah, the link right back to Abraham.

And uh the lineage as described in the book of Matthew is somewhat unique or different because typically, from the the typical genealogy structure for the time in history, only the men and the fathers are typically mentioned or named when they prepare the genealogy.

They would typically just say, son of this, son of that, son of who, son of this, son of that kind of thing.

And you would you would see this here Abraham.

It starts with Abraham, the father of Isaac, the father of Jacob, the father of Judah, and the and and the list goes on.

And that was the norm.

However, in this genealogy of Jesus, Matthew, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, breaks away from tradition because among the list of uh forty-some men who are mentioned in uh Jesus' genealogy, among the list of these forty-some fathers, you will find that there are some women mentioned.

Apart from Mary, the mother of Jesus, there are four other women or four other mothers that are named in the genealogy of Jesus.

So these four women being named is strange, and like I said, it's unique, not only because that they are mentioned at all, that alone is strange.

Uh because, like I said, it wasn't typical to include the name of women when listing the genealogy.

And that is the first peculiarity about the genealogy of Jesus.

But the second peculiarity is this you may think that they would have chosen to mention these women because these were women of extraordinary fame or achievement, and they wanted the readers to see the amazing pedigree that Jesus has in his bloodline, but this isn't the case.

All four of these women seem to have at least one or two reasons why they should not be in the bloodline of Jesus.

The first one is Tama.

Tama's claim to fame was this when her husband died, she pretended to be a prostitute so that she could have a child in that same family through her father-in-law.

Now that's a pretty scandalous story.

I I wouldn't want that in my genealogy or that being exposed in my genealogy.

The second one was Rahab.

Rahab didn't have to pretend to be a prostitute, Rahab was a prostitute.

And on top of that, she was an outsider, a Canaanite woman.

I can hear some bangra music going on somewhere.

Pastor Robert.

I tell you.

In case you didn't already figure that out.

Welcome, Pastor Robert.

It's okay.

No, it's okay.

We don't mind a bit of Bangra sunlight going off in the middle of my sermon.

I just try to change a few light bulbs here and there.

Okay, where was I?

Rahab.

Rahab.

The second one was Rahab.

And like I said, Rahab didn't have to pretend to be a prostitute.

She was a prostitute.

And on top of that, she was an outsider, a Canaanite woman.

The Canaanites were the people that that God told his Israelite people not to have any association with, do not marry any of them, do not be a part of their culture.

So Rahab was a prostitute.

She ran a brothel and she was a Canaanite woman.

Then you have Ruth.

Ruth was a good lady, but she wasn't, she also wasn't an Israelite.

She was a Moabite woman, and the Moabites were enemies of the Israelite people.

They worked against the Israelite people.

And she is widowed, and she later remarries a much older man by the name of Boaz.

And the fourth one was Bathsheba.

Bathsheba is a woman who gets into the lineage of Jesus by by just she gets into this whole family by means of an adulterous relationship which resulted in the murder of her husband and the death of her firstborn.

So basically, not the kind of women we would want exposed in our genealogy, not the kind of stories that we would want to see in people finding out.

These are the things we normally try to, this is probably typically the part of our family history we try to hide.

Let's not tell anyone about great-grandma Tama.

I mean, her scandal.

We don't want anyone to know that this thing happened in our family history, in our bloodline.

Oh, even about Rahab, how she used to run Ruma Rehab Rahab in Canaan.

We don't want anyone to know about her, that she was our great-great-grandmother.

And we definitely don't want people to find out about Bathsheba, how she was down with OPP, and and the reason for her husband's death, and also for her firstborn's death.

You know, we want to hide these kind of stories in in the closet or in the in the in the safe of our family history.

We don't want people to know.

And what more, when you're introducing the lineage of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the most holiest person who ever walked the face of the earth.

When you're introducing the readers to who Jesus is, I would think they would want to hide all these little bits and pieces of his family history so that people just see a pure savior come from a beautiful bloodline.

Yet the Holy Spirit, through Matthew, saw it fit to include these characters as part of the bloodline of Jesus.

These ladies, in spite of their history, in spite of their track record, in spite of their genealogy, their bad choices, they are chosen by God to be the ones through whom God was going to reveal his great plan for mankind, through whom God was going to reveal the savior of the world.

And I want to pick one lesson each from each of these women to see how God kind of weaves them into the genealogy of his son.

Like I said, the first woman mentioned is Tamar.

So cover your children's ears.

I'm going to share a little bit about Tamar.

It's a bit of a PG 13 story.

So Tamar's story is pretty sad.

It's one of those stories that is wrong and shameful on so many levels.

It says in Genesis chapter 38, verse 6, it says, Then Judah took a wife for Ur, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

Genesis 38:6

But Ur, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord.

You know, those days, and uh even these days in some cultures, your partners were chosen by your parents.

You know, that's good and that's bad in that.

More good, I think, uh, Ethan and Josh, where are they?

So anyway.

So sometimes people end up with bad partners.

Because not because they chose the partners, because the partners were chosen by them.

And in Thomas' case, that was that was the problem.

She was selected by Judah for his son, Ur.

And it says Ur was a wicked man.

In fact, he was so wicked, it says that God himself took his life.

God ended him.

I mean, you've got to be a special kind of wicked.

If God himself says, you know, okay, that's enough of you, man.

I'm gonna take you out.

God removes Ur, and I think that's why they name him Ur.

Every time you see him do something, err.

So God was looking at this guy and going, err.

To err is human.

To forgive, in this case, was not God's policy.

So it says God himself took Ur out.

So Tama is forced or thrust into a marriage with this wicked man, and not by choice, but because she was the one chosen for him by the man's father.

So her husband dies, and another custom of those days was this if the husband of the woman dies and she has no children, then it was customary for the next unmarried brother to take the widow as his wife.

Now, the reason why this was done is actually two reasons.

One was to protect the woman so that she would have someone who would care for her after the death of her husband, because the life of a widow in those days was not easy.

She would have she would not be in a position to get a job, uh, to build or buy a home for herself, and she would be on her own, which would be dangerous to not be under the covering.

So the custom was put in place to help and protect the woman, and it was also there so that the lineage of the deceased person could carry on to the woman, and also so that the woman would be able to have her own children who could support her and take care of her.

So Tamar was supposed to be married to Judah's older son, Onan.

Onan refuses to honor the wow, and he is then judged and dies.

Now Judah is left with one more son by the name of Sheila, who at that point was not yet at the right age to marry.

So he tells Tamar, Judah tells Tama, the father in law tells Tama, look here, you go back to your parents' home.

And he says this, remain a widow in your father's house.

So he he could have done two things.

He could have said, Listen, you go back to your parents' home, you stay with your parents' home, uh, your parents ask your parents to take care of you, you can actually remarry, we release you of this vow, of this, of this, of this custom, of this tradition.

You know, you lead your own life.

He could have done that to her.

But he says to her, remain a widow in your father's house, and when my youngest son is at the right age, I will send for you.

So she agrees and she honors that vow and she goes back and she remains a widow.

And in those days, a widow wore a certain uh widow's garment, so everyone around her would know she was a widow, basically shutting all doors.

No, I'm a widow, I'm not interested in anything or anyone else.

I am keeping myself a widow for a purpose.

But what she didn't realize at that point was her father-in-law had no intention of giving his son to her in marriage.

He was basically casting her aside.

He just wanted to get her out of the picture.

So Tama is abandoned, she's forgotten by the family that was supposed to protect her, and the family that told her to remain a widow, and years pass, and she realizes that her father-in-law actually lied to her.

So she decides to take matters into her own hand.

And she takes a risk driven by desperation, knowing her father-in-law would be passing by a particular spot.

She disguises her identity, wears a veil, and pretends to be a prostitute by the roadside.

She probably knew her father-in-law had some bad habits, so she veiled her face, she pretended, and and and Judah comes along and not recognizing her, approaches her and makes this business transaction with her, negotiates a payment.

And uh, before she agrees to anything, she says to Judah, she says, Give me a pledge of your identity.

His signature ring the cord and he starts basically saying, Give me your passport, your IC, and all that as just as a pledge, so that so that I know I will get a payment from you later.

So he says, Okay, that's fine.

And the transaction takes place, after which she leaves, nowhere to be found.

And Judah can't find her the next day, and he just kind of goes on with life.

And some months later, better than Netflix, right, isn't it?

Some months later, Judah receives news that his widow daughter-in-law, whom he had commanded to remain a widow, is pregnant.

Now he's angry, he's furious, and he demanded that she be punished.

He says, Bring her to me and let her be burned.

That is how wicked he was.

He was so angry, even though he knew he cheated her, he said, Let her be burned.

She's how can she get pregnant?

That means she did not keep her vow to my family.

I want you to understand that all this stuff that you read about are not practices that are condoned by God.

These were the practices of the pagans in the land that the sons of Israel lived amongst.

And the sons of Israel were not exemplary uh people who were who were just examples of God's great examples of God's people.

These are the same Judah who, along with his brothers, tried to kill Joseph and ends up selling him into slavery.

This is the same family, the same people.

In fact, while this is going on, Joseph is in Potiphar's house, in prison, or working as a slave there.

So this is that Judah, that family.

So he says, Bring her here, let her be burned, let her be punished.

But Tama come uh when they when they go to get Tama, Tama produces Judah's passport, his IC, his touch and go car.

He says, The owner of this is the father of my child.

So Judah was caught in his own hypocrisy, and he realized that while Tama had used deception, he was the one who had been unfaithful to his word.

And he says this in Genesis 38, verse 26 Judah acknowledged these items and said, She has been more righteous than I because I did not give her my son Shelah, I did not honor my wow, she has been more righteous.

Genesis 38:26

So, like I said, these guys are not the best examples, and uh that's the thing I like about the Bible because the Bible tells you everything the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It doesn't try in any sense to be a super sanitized book filled with perfect people, it identifies the flaws of humanity and the people, even God's people, struggled.

They had all these things going on, and this story has it all the good, the bad, the ugly, the tragedy, the misery, the betrayal, the horrible decisions.

Like I said, if any one of us had a story like this in our family line, we'd go out of the way to keep it a secret, we'd keep it hidden.

Great grandma Tamar, the kind of things she did to get what she was owed, the bad decisions that she made.

Others cannot find out about her.

That's gotta be a family secret.

Yet Tamar is weaved into the plan of God, and she's introduced as the great grandmother of Jesus Christ.

God chose this lineage, God chose her story to be a part of his story.

He chose this lineage, her lineage, to reveal his son, the perfect one, the holiest personality to ever walk the face of the earth.

And the point I want to glean from this story is this your mistakes, your bad decisions, your shameful acts does not stop the grace and power of God from working in and through your life.

No matter how bad it was, how bad it has been, how horrible the mistakes you have made, you are not beyond the redemptive grace of God found in Jesus Christ.

God redeems, He can bring beauty out of ashes, He can turn your mistakes into miracles, He can bring wholeness into the brokenness.

Let me put it this way: your history is not a limitation of your destiny that is in Christ Jesus, amen.

We all have the same problem, we all have the same issue.

We cannot do anything about our past, we cannot undo the mistakes, the bad choices that we've made, the things that we've done, but we all have the same promise, the same hope that God is able to turn our mistakes into miracles if we are willing to come before him and trust him with our lives and our future.

I can't change the past, but I can trust my future into the hands of a good, good God.

Amen.

Come on, give Jesus a clap prophecy.

There is nothing in your past that is too complicated or too messed up for God to work through to bring about a beautiful future if you are willing to trust him or let him.

The other woman mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus is Rahab.

Rahab, like I said, was a Canaanite prostitute.

She ran the Ruma Rehab Rahab, the brothel in the great city of Jericho.

And just to summarize what happens, the army of Israel is headed towards Jericho.

God's people are headed towards Jericho.

Joshua sends two spies into Jericho, and the armies find out.

Hey, there are spies.

We heard there are spies coming to spy into Jericho.

So they immediately send their soldiers out, uh, the Jericho soldiers to look for these two spies.

So these two spies don't know what to do.

They're gonna knock on Rahab's door.

Her Rumatumpan.

They need a place to hide because the soldiers of Jericho were looking for them.

She was, needless to say, at that point, a prostitute.

She ran the brothel.

But and but Rahab makes certain choices at a crucial point of her life, at a crucial point of history that drastically transforms her future.

So she, as the spies come to her door, she is at this defining moment of her life.

She is in a position where she has to make this decision.

And this decision could greatly affect her life and her future and her business and her relationships.

It was a very, very risky decision for her.

But she had to, in that moment, make a choice to choose a side.

Does she get on God's side?

This God, whom she doesn't know personal personally, but she has heard all about what he has done and how he's helped the Israelites and how he works great miracles for his people.

Or does she stay in her comfort zone?

Trust what she had known up to that point in her life, trust in Jericho, trust in its walls, trust in the kings of Jericho for her future.

Rahab is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus because Rahab makes a choice to get on God's side, to be about what God is doing.

And because she makes that decision, her entire future is transformed.

The ill repute of her past is replaced by her repute.

Reputation today as a heroine of Jericho, a heroine in the story of Israel's conquest of Jericho, and her thought process in making the decision is revealed in this portion of scripture.

She says in Joshua chapter 2, verse 8, she said to the man, I know, I know, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you.

Joshua 2:8

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea when you came out of Egypt, what you did to the kings of the Amorite who were on the other side of the Jordan, Seahorn and Og, whom you destroyed.

And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted.

So she says, I know because I have heard.

She made a decision to step out of her comfort zone to get on God's side, not because of what she had experienced personally up to that point of time, but because of what she heard God can do and has done for his people, and just simply based on what she heard, she says, I know.

She gains her confidence in God simply based on what she what she heard, and that is the foundation of faith.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Today, maybe you've not experienced all these miracles yet, but you've heard what God has done, what God is doing, what God has done for that person, what pastor is saying about what God can do.

You've heard the testimonies, you've heard the word, you've heard the promises of God and what he's able to do.

Are you and you are in that position right now where you can make a decision for your life and your future?

Do I trust in this God?

Do I allow what I have heard to form what I know?

Or do I just stay in my comfort zone, trusting in the kings of this world, trusting in this thing and that thing and that person on my capacity and my ability for my life and my future, or do I surrender and step into the hands of God?

Today you can decide to say to Jesus, I heard and I know and I want to trust you.

I heard how you save, I've heard how you deliver, I've heard how you redeem, I've heard how you transform, I've heard how you heal, I've heard how you bless, and I am going to believe and allow my life and my future to be led by what I hear and what I know about you.

And because Rahab does that, her generations are blessed.

She has she had no idea in that moment that a simple decision like that would lead to her becoming a channel of the savior of the world.

Through her, because of her, the spies are saved.

The Israelite spies are saved.

And it's almost prophetic because through her lineage, all of Israel has the potential to be saved, and all of us have the potential to be saved.

Through her lineage, she is a great great grandmother of Jesus.

And in fact, the the whole act of her, the in fact, the the soldiers tell her, listen, tie a uh uh a scarlet cord around your window so that we will know when we invade the city, we will know this house and its inhabitants must not be touched simply because of the scarlet cord.

We see a scarlet cord is a red cord, and that all points back to how Jesus delivers his people, uh how God delivers his people out of Egypt, put the blood of the lamb on the door.

So when death sees the blood, it will not enter that home.

So that you and I too have the mark of the blood on our lives, amen.

So that will not be able to take us, but that we have an eternity with God, even if we shut our eyes on earth, we wake up in heavenly glory, amen.

Let's give Jesus a clap offering.

And then there's Ruth.

Ruth's story starts off pretty tragically.

Ruth chapter 1, verse 1 to 13.

Ruth 1:1–13

It says, Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah went to dwell in the country of Moab.

He and his wife and his two sons.

The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife was Naomi.

Naomi.

And the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Shilion, Ephrahites of Bethlehem, Judah.

And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.

Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her, and she left and her two sons.

She was left with her two sons.

And now they took wives among the women of Moab.

Again, something that God told them never to do.

The name of one was Oprah, not Winfrey, and the name of the other was Ruth.

And they dwelt there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Shilion also died.

So the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

So this is uh uh Naomi who's just lost her husband and her two sons.

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return to the country from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country that's just a lot of words.

So she she now she tells her daughter-in-laws, listen, we're gonna I'm gonna leave Moab because there's a things are bad here.

I heard that if I go back to Judah, that's you know, I heard God is blessing the land.

You know, I'm gonna go back.

But I want each of you to go your own way.

She's releasing them because she had no more sons.

She had nothing that she could give them, nothing that she could offer them.

And she says, Return, go to your your mother's house.

I mean, both of them were still young, and the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.

So she kissed them and she lifted up and they lifted up their voices and wept.

And they said to her, Surely we will return with you to your people.

So they said, No, we want to follow you, daughter-in-law.

Say, No, no, we want to follow you.

You know, mother-in-law, we want to be with you.

How many of you want mother-in-laws like that?

That the daughter-in-laws want to be with them.

And uh she said, We want to be with you, we want to go with you.

And uh, but Naomi says, Listen, turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me?

Because I've got nothing.

I've got nothing to give you, I've got no more sons, there's nothing I can offer you.

So, Oprah, one of the daughter-in-law, kisses her mother-in-law, says, Okay, I'll go back.

I'll go back to my people, my house, my family house, start a new life there.

But Ruth says clung to her, and she said, Look, uh, and uh Naomi said, Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods.

Why don't you follow her?

You so go back.

But Ruth says this beautiful, beautiful words.

She says, Entreat me not to leave you or turn back from following after you.

For wherever you go, I will go.

Wherever you lodge, I will lodge.

Your people will be my people, your God, my God.

Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.

The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.

You see, this woman Ruth, she has reasons not to be there.

She's a Moabite, she's an outsider.

When her husband died and there was no more sons in the family, her connection or obligation to root and the family ends.

She had before her the opportunity to go back, to start a new life in her land.

She was still young, she could remarry, she could pursue her own future and happiness outside of God's people.

And that, in the natural, that would have been the better decision for her life.

Her sister-in-law makes that decision, and we don't hear anything about Oprah after that.

She started a talk show, but that was much later.

But Ruth, in that situation where unfaithfulness would have benefited her more, she chose faithfulness.

When her mother-in-law tells her to leave, she makes that powerful decision and chooses to be faithful.

She says, Entreat me not to leave you.

Where you go, I go.

Where you stay, I'll stay.

Where you die, there I will die.

This story for us today highlights the power of faithfulness.

She chooses faithfulness.

You know, sometimes staying faithful is the harder decision to make.

In the natural, it may seem easier to turn away, to walk away, to do your own thing, do what seems to be beneficial in the natural, in your own eyes.

Sometimes staying faithful to the word of God, staying faithful to what God is telling you to do can be more challenging, can be more risky, can be the harder path to take.

The benefits may not immediately be visible.

So Naomi says, Go, I'm releasing you.

It's easier for you if you go.

If you follow me, you'll gain nothing.

But Ruth chooses the harder part of faithfulness.

And here's one thing that I've seen over my life and over many people's lives.

God always rewards faithfulness.

Faithfulness to God will always be rewarded by God.

God sees and honors faithfulness.

In fact, one of the things that we will hear when we one day stand before God is well done, not good and prosperous servant, not good and you know, you've done so well in the world, you should be good and faithful servant.

Proverbs chapter 28, verse 20 says this a faithful person will abound in blessings.

Proverbs 28:20

One day we will all stand before God and we want to hear those words.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

But the lesson from Ruth is this because she chose faithfulness in a moment when it would have been easier for her to walk away, that faithfulness connects her to her destiny in Christ.

Today, Ruth is remembered as a great grandmother of Jesus Christ simply because she chose to be faithful.

You know, I really appreciate all the mothers here who have stayed faithful.

I know there have been moments where it would have been easier to just walk away, to do your own thing, to not care, but you have chosen faithfulness, and I assure you the Lord sees and the Lord will reward you.

Amen.

And of course, the final person I want to talk about, the last of the four, is Bathsheba.

Bathsheba's story is found in 2 Samuel, where she's mentioned as not even her name, the wife of Uriah.

Her story is probably one of the most painful stories in the Bible.

An adulterous encounter with King David led to the murder of her husband and the loss of her first child.

This powerful man led her into a relationship and situation that she probably had very little control over.

She ends up pregnant through this adulterous relationship.

Then he tries to cover up his wrong by getting her husband murdered.

And he does that so that he could protect his reputation, his name, and possibly carry on with this unhealthy relationship.

But God would not have it that way.

He sends the prophet to David and a whole thing takes place.

But ultimately he says, I anointed you king of Israel, saved you from the power of Saul, I gave you your master's house, his wife's, the kingdom of Israel and Judah.

And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.

Why then have you despised the word of the Lord and done this terrible deed?

For you have murdered Uriah and by the sword of the Ammonites, and you have stolen his wife.

Notice he says, right, so what did David do?

He committed murder, he committed adultery, committed murder, and the Lord says to him, This why have you despised the word of the Lord?

You see the connection?

Every time we do things that are out that are in that category of sin and we choose a part that we know is wrong, we are not just making a choice.

We are saying to God we despise your word.

So God sends his prophet to rebuke David.

And then so this Bathsheba story starts in the shadows.

She's a woman who lost her husband, her child, her reputation, all in one season.

And like I said, in the genealogy of Matthew, she isn't even called by name, she's referred to as her who had been the wife of Uriah.

But if you keep reading the story of David, David repents, he comes clean before God, he accepts and faces the consequences of his action, and then you see a shift start to take place.

Bathsheba does not stay a victim of a circumstances, she goes on to become a woman of influence, she becomes the mother of Solomon.

So think about it.

God took the situation, born out of a mess, and uses that same woman to birth the wisest king to ever live.

He took the woman who had lost her home, her husband, and made her the queen mother, the one who would ensure that the promise of God stays on the throne.

The lesson from Bathsheba is this: your worst chapter does not have to be your final chapter.

Bathsheba went from a woman caught in a scandal to becoming the mother of the wisest king in history.

She didn't stay a victim.

Like I said, she became the queen mother.

Out of her worst mistake, she gives birth to Solomon.

She gets Solomon known for his wisdom.

He's the epitome of wisdom in scripture.

We all have made mistakes.

Every mistake affords us two possibilities.

You can either stay a victim of your mistakes or you can gain wisdom from your mistakes, from your bad choices, from your bad decisions.

Don't stay a victim of your mistakes.

If you choose to bring them to God, if you choose to come clean before God, God can turn things around for you, for your future.

God doesn't just forgive her, God promotes her and restores her.

You know, sometimes you may feel like a Bathsheba, where you're defined by a scandal or a divorce or a loss or a mistake, uh, or a mistake that wasn't even entirely your own fault.

You can feel like people look at you and only see that version of your life, that season of your life.

But God looked at a Bathsheba and he saw the mother of a king.

He saw a woman who could take the pain of her past and turn it into wisdom for her future.

Bathsheba teaches us that God He doesn't just fix our problems, He can make all things new.

Amen.

So why are these four women in the lineage of Jesus?

Because Jesus didn't just come for people who had it all together, He came from a family tree that's real and just as messed up and complicated as your family tree.

And if he can turn around those situations to bring about the savior of the world, think what he can do with your life.

You know, this four women shows us ultimately a beautiful, messy, glorious picture of the grace of God.

Tama tells us that God can redeem your story.

Regardless of your history, you can have a destiny in Christ.

But it comes with a truth that we learned from Rehab, where we need to make that decision, that choice you can and must decide to get on God's side for your life and for your future.

Rehab shows us that a single decision can change your entire destiny.

That's all it takes.

One single decision.

And Ruth tells us faithfulness is always rewarded.

And sometimes faithfulness is hard, it will cost you.

But it shows us that in our faithfulness, in the hard seasons, God is there with us.

God has already mapped out your future, and if you stay faithful, you will see his goodness.

And as the story of Bathsheba tells us, God truly can make all things beautiful in its time.

No matter how messed up things have been, if you're willing to come clean before God, stand before our gracious God, repent when necessary.

God can transform your life, your future, your destiny.