Genesis 38 is one of those. It seems to have no connection to the
movement of the key characters so why did God insist on it? It is
full of odd customs and God puts 2 men to death!!! And the father-in-
law watches his 2 sons die and then makes some decisions about his
daughter in law. Odd story to be sure.
I suppose our stories are odd as well. We may live thinking we are
not a part of the main plot (the main characters of Joseph, Isaac,
Abraham, Paul in the Bible) and yet God is there, too, watching and
moving and acting. The margins may be where most of us feel we live
and yet are there margins? Are there margins that only get a glimpse
of God's sight upon occasion?
If so, the decisions I make, the promises I break or keep don't matter
much. But this story says otherwise. God is at work in the margins.
To have promises broken, to be considered the problem and pushed out
of sight (as Tamar was) is not to be removed from the vision of the
Lord. Those little acts of faithfulness alter the world.
None of us live on the margins, though it may seem to be so. Our
supposed margins are the places the world is made or lost and always
the Lord is sovereign, there, bigger than any person's decision to act
or not act faithfully. He sees! He knows! He is God over all! So
be it.
