Head Scratcher — Mephibosheth - Monday
Today’s Verse
Psalm 34:5-6
Those who look to him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles. (CSB)
One morning, while in college, I woke up to find the right side of my face paralyzed. It seemed like a bad dream. After going to the ER and getting a diagnosis of Bell’s Palsy, I had to try to figure out how to navigate with half of my face no longer functioning for a couple of months. All I wanted to do was hide until the paralysis went away. I didn’t want to deal with the stares and questions from everyone I encountered. I wanted to retreat away from the world. I felt ugly and ashamed by my new appearance. I didn’t know how I would get through, but God! He had a plan, and I used my paralyzed face as the main prop in a speech I gave, starting “Look at my face…” I was no longer hiding, but embracing the stares and able to educate others from my experience.
In 2 Samuel, we learn about Mephibosheth. He lived with shame long before King David ever sent for him. The grandson of Saul and son of Jonathan, he was dropped as a child during a frantic escape and became crippled in both feet. In those days, physical disability often carried stigma. Mephibosheth lived in Lo Debar, a desolate place whose name literally means "no pasture." He was royalty by birth, yet lived in obscurity, forgotten, broken, and ashamed.
Shame tells us we are disqualified, too broken, too forgotten, too far gone. It tells us that we don’t belong in the presence of the King. But David didn’t see a crippled outcast; he saw someone to honor, someone to restore.
Jesus knows our shame—our past, our wounds, our fear of not being enough. But He doesn’t reject us. He redeems us. Where shame isolates, He includes. Where shame says “stay hidden,” Jesus says, “Come.”
We don’t work our way out of shame; we accept the grace that covers it. You are not what you’ve done. You are not what’s been done to you. In Christ, you are invited, restored, and seated at the King’s table.
REFLECTION
Are you struggling with the shame of something from your past?
Pray this with me:
Lord, thank You for Your grace that finds me in my brokenness. Like Mephibosheth, I bring nothing but my need, and You meet me with kindness. Help me to release shame and receive my place at Your table. Remind me daily that I am Your child, not an outcast. Amen.