For the girls I love, “One Man will never let you down”
For days, now, my newsfeed has been buzzing with opinions, thoughts, ideas. On a chilly January day, women descended on Washington in droves, and in our nation’s capital, they marched…
You who follow me will know that, for reasons which the Almighty has not seen fit to explain, we’ve been raisin’ boys. Like, four. Around here, the score is 5-1 (countin’ their dad) with the curly head square in the minors. With that ‘1.’
Anyway, the whole ruckus got me to thinkin’ on girls and women and boys and men and if the Lord had sent some girls on down, what in the name of all that’s holy, what would I want them to know? Seein’ as how I, myself, AM a girl, I do have a few ideas. Right here…
Your womanhood is not a curse; it’s a blessing. I believe this is where I’d start. “Girls,” I might say, “you have been made in God’s image, and that is a wonderful thing! Now, here’s the deal. As women, you and I portray a piece of God’s heart to the world that your dad and other men can’t portray. Can you believe it? Just by be-ing, we display for all creation a part of God’s character, His reflection.
“God,” I would say to my girls, “is tender and compassionate. He’s merciful and kind. You know how you come running to me when you scrape your knee, or a friend has hurt your feelings, and then I scoop you up and hug you close and kiss your knee and hear, really hear, your heart? God is that kind of a God. You, my sweet girls, bear His image.
“Daddy, you see, bears God’s image, too. It’s just a different part. Daddy protects us. He works hard to take care of us. He’s so good at planning and so many other things, and we feel safe when he’s here, don’t we? So you see, sweet girls, it takes both to reflect Him.”
Being a woman can mean you’re weak. It also means you’re strong. “The world will tell you that it’s a shame to be weak, and that everything a man can do, you can do it just as well or better. You know what? There are some things your daddy is much better at than I am. And girlies, that’s so very, very good. But there are some things that I’m much better, much stronger at. And that is also good. Being ‘weaker’ than a man in a certain thing doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Doesn’t mean you’re less. It just means you’re different.”
Men aren’t actually the enemy. “Girls,” I’d say, “listen up. You will hear a whole lot of hatred for men. From women, and that’s because a lot of ’em have been hurt.
“Men, I’m sorry to say, have done a great deal of damage. They just have. With their anger, they’ve caused wounding and pain. With their absence and neglect, they’ve abandoned. But girls,” and here I would look, really look into their eyes, “when a man misuses his strength (that’s aggression) or when he doesn’t use his strength (that’s passivity), it does not mean that you’re weak. It means he is!
“See, men aren’t actually the enemy. It’s satan, the deceiver, who pits men against women and women against men, who sows strife and dissension, deception and hate, and we get to blamin’ each other instead of the one who’s behind it. And he’s the father of lies. Then this: women have hurt men, too, and we can all fall prey to deceivin’. So be watchful.”
You are meant to bear life. “Of all the things you will ever do in this world; for all the careers you could choose, for every trophy you could win or title you could obtain, there is no higher calling than this–to bear life.
“Your womb is a holy and sacred place. Your body is the temple of God. When you conceive a child, it is His fingers that are alive and active in your most secret part, weaving a soul that will never die.
“You do have the power of choice. You can choose to partner with the Almighty God, hosting His very creation, giving birth to a breathtaking miracle. For the rest of your life, it will call forth every ounce of strength, wisdom, intelligence, creativity, patience, endurance, and wit that you have. Then you will run out, you’ll fall short, and you’ll need a re-filling. By the One Who has made you both.
“If you are not called to be a life-giver through sperm and egg, you are always called to be a bearer of life to those around you. For you, with that tender heart that mirrors His, you can nurture, encourage, strengthen and bless the world you’re in.”
No matter what the world or your own experiences with men have taught you, there is One Man Who will never let you down. “My daughters. If you could list on a paper the qualities that would make up the perfect man, he wouldn’t even come close to the Man, Jesus Christ. There is no hu-man in the world who has yet died for you. Who has so highly esteemed you, so greatly valued you, so passionately longed for you to be his, that he has laid down his own life. Save One.
“Whenever you doubt your value and worth, look at Him. Whenever you rage or grieve a man’s failings, look to Him. If ever you’re abandoned or feel all alone, run to Him. He will never fail, can never forsake.”
That’s what I believe I’d tell my daughters, tell my nieces. And to all the other women in the world who’ve been hurt, angered, devastated, deceived, left behind by a man, may I say that there is one Man Who is for you. Who is for all women. Who, after His resurrection, revealed Himself to a woman first! So wonderful His love. So high His esteem. So tender His mercies.
For Jesus, Who loves ALL women and men,
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