Tamar. Rahab. Ruth. Bathsheba. Mary. These are the women listed in the genealogy of Christ.

I always find myself drawn in to the stories of Rahab and Ruth, captivated by their longing for a God they did not know – which then makes me think of how often we are oblivious to this God we do know.

I love this part of Ruth’s story: At this, she (Ruth) bowed down her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?”

Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” —Ruth 2:10-12, NIV

I bet Boaz thought of his mother when he heard of Ruth’s determination to join this nation so foreign to her.  I imagine he’d heard the story of his parents’ meeting, how she hid the spies and hung the scarlet thread. He had to have seen that same courage and determination in Ruth and loved her more for it.

These women, the ones named in the ancestry of Christ, were each broken, imperfect. Tamar pretended to be a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law. Rahab really was a prostitute. Ruth was a foreigner. Later we’ll read about Bathsheba, an adulteress. Finally there is Mary, an unwed teenage mother.

I don’t know what your story is – what parts of your past make you feel unusable by God. But I know this: the same God who chose to include these five women in the family tree of His Son looks at you and sees potential, possibility and promise, and His plan for you is very good.