A Fallen Woman

Hosea 14:1—O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

Deuteronomy 33:27—The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:


“I don’t how she can hold her head up. She’s a fallen woman, you know!”

A fallen woman. The term bears a certain shameful stigma. Spoken in whispers and behind closed door, it was once used to describe a girl who’d become pregnant out of wedlock—the ultimate disgrace for an erstwhile respectable young lady. Pride destroyed, spirit crushed, she was indeed a fallen woman. A pariah. An object of ridicule, to whom no respect was owed.

Oddly enough, reaching that level of disgrace often became the pivotal turning point in a young lady’s life—sometimes for the better, occasionally for the worse. With her shame revealed for the world to see, life changed drastically. Maybe she decided to clean up her act and never repeat the mistake that brought her to dishonor. Or perhaps the cruelty of high-minded human beings pushed her in the other direction, and she became a true woman of dishonor, laughing in the face of society, rushing headlong toward destruction.

When you stop to think about it, each of us in her own way has, at some point, reached that pivotal place in our lives, haven’t we?

As willful human beings, we often have to reach the lowest point possible before God can touch us. We have to fall so hard that we cannot get up on our own. I know I’ve been there, and since hindsight’s a perfect 20/20, it’s easy to see who picked me up when I fell that far.

I can’t deny it. Spiritually, I’ve been a fallen woman…but neither is there any doubt that when I fell, I fell into a grace so amazing it cannot be described! When I reached my lowest point, I landed in the arms of a loving, caring God. When I didn’t know which way to go, and hadn’t the strength to get there anyway, He picked me up and carried me until I could stand up on my own again.

What a joy to know that no matter how badly we’ve messed up, our heavenly Father still loves us! How reassuring that—even when we’ve shamed Him and disgraced ourselves—His care for us never wavers. When we’ve made mistakes too big and too embarrassing to share with any earthly friend, God already knows, and He forgives. When we’ve nowhere to turn but to Jesus…then we’ve fallen into His amazing grace, and found it sufficient.

Amazing grace. It’s all we need, now or ever.

Sweet heavenly Father, You are my safety net. Thank you for hiding my shame beneath Your blood. Help me to remember that Your arms bear me up when my own strength fails. Keep me humble, never forgetting that when I fell to my knees, when my shame drove me down, Your love bore me up, Your arms carried me. Your grace is sufficient for me , Lord. Thank you for Your unending forgiveness. Thank you for Your covering blood, which hides my sins and makes this fallen woman white as snow!