When I make a mistake, I like to hide under cover. I want to pretend it didn’t happen, or deflect blame on someone else. I don’t want others to know that I made a mistake. I still struggle with wanting to appear perfect.
The woman in this scripture also struggled with mistakes and wanted to hide under cover. She was willing to take another woman’s child to cover her mistake. Her brokenness, her shame was so severe this seemed like the only way through it. That was how I felt too until God changed everything.
19 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him.20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast.21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.” (1 Kings 3:19-21 NIV).
This is a scripture of pain desperation. It shows the depth of the human condition and our ability to do terrible things when we are afraid and broken. It exemplifies the phrase, “hurt people, hurt people.” God reminds us over and over that there is another way.
Remember Luke 1:37, nothing is impossible with God, and Hebrews 12:29, God is not an indifferent bystander. He cares deeply for the woman’s loss, shame and grief. He cares for our grief, shame and fear. He doesn’t want us under cover. He wants us free, and that’s what is promised. Living into that promise often requires work on our part. We can be free of the shame that makes us want to hide. Trust Him. He will get you there.
Do you hide under cover? Have you been freed from shame? Share your story here and breathe life and bring hope to others.