Family drama, failure and forgiveness

Today: 2 Samuel 13-15

God uses imperfect people. This is a fact that I find very refreshing.

Today's passage had a few sad and interesting stories that illustrate this concept. There are a lot of people who bemoan their family backgrounds. They use family dysfunction as an excuse to live mediocre or dysfunctional lives. But most people don't have families plagued both by incestuous rape and several murders--David and his family did. Talk about family drama! I can't imagine experiencing all of the issues David dealt with--but he was remembered for his close relationship with God.

Another interesting thing I noticed in this passage was David's (repeated) failure to recognize his own folly. In yesterday's passage, the prophet Nathan used a story to help David admit his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah (her husband). In today's chapters, a woman told a story that ultimately convinced David to forgive his son.

David is typically characterized as a "man after God's own heart," yet he experienced some epic failures and family drama. Each time, he was restored through forgiveness--either by seeking forgiveness from God or making a difficult decision to forgive someone else. David wasn't perfect by any means...but forgiveness healed his heart and his relationships.

Tomorrow: 2 Samuel 16-18