As a woman, I have some needs that are unique to a man's. I long to be cherished, appreciated, sought after, fought for, and more. As women, I think we all agree that our mere hearts desire to be filled with these things. However, we can run to many of the wrong places in order to fill these longings. We often go to guys, relationships, jobs, being successful, being organized -- even serving or volunteering for a church or a great cause. The list of those things can often be good, but not when we put them in front of the Lord. It's then that they turn into idols and something we worship before God.
No matter how much we eat, we will eventually be hungry again. No matter how much water we drink, we will still thirst in time. No matter what resources we immerse our hearts with, we will still ache for something that can fully captivate and gratify our hearts.
The only true one to do this is Jesus. He yearns to be the satisfaction of our hearts. When God first made Eve in the Garden of Eden, He saw that there was no other creature that would be suited to complement man. She was made divinely and to emulate the beauty of God. He made us as women to be thoughtful, purposeful, relational, and loved. A man can also be many of these things, but God sacredly made women to be a helper-- to be especially soft, beautiful, caring, compassionate, and empathetic in whatever way each individual woman chooses to show it.
We often wish to be cherished as a daughter as well. Our relationship with our father is so crucial and is often marred by the way it went as we were growing up. Some of us don't even know who our father is or what he's even like. This is why it can be hard to look to God as a father.
As our Heavenly Father, He sees all the beautiful parts of us -- He would know because He made all of those things! He knows how much we like flowers or a long hike instead of relaxing at the beach. He smiles when we laugh till we snort or when we tell super corny jokes. He sees beauty when our face is breaking out or when we've been using dry shampoo for three days now. He notices when our heart aches for that homeless person or someone suffering from a tragic situation. He made all those exquisite aspects of us. Like a father should, He wants to pour His love out on us and cherish us as a daughter.
Being at a conference last week, I was reminded of how God sees us as daughters in light of a particular story that was talked on. A passage in Mark 5:24-34 tells about Jesus being in a crowd and on His way to see a man whose daughter is dying. A woman who suffered from a bleeding disorder for 12 years heard about Jesus and saw Him in the crowd. This woman, having spent all she had to try to cure herself, urgently went to Jesus when she saw Him. She said, "If I could just touch His robe, I'll be made well." At the instant she touched the end of His robe, her disease was immediately healed from her body.
Jesus then realized that some power had went from Him and He looked out to see who had touched Him. The women saw His face and fell down trembling with fear, explaining the whole truth. Jesus, with much grace and love, told the woman, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction."
I pondered while reading this and thought of all the times I felt so unloved, unwanted, undesirable, not beautiful, picked last, and so on. This woman had probably not been touched for the 12 years she lived with her disease. In those days, you couldn't enter the temple to worship God if you were unclean. She hadn't even been able to worship or experience the presence of God for that long period of time. I imagine she was most likely living in much darkness. She spent everything she had to be healed.
In that moment of desperation, she had little but knew only little was required to be healed by Jesus. Just a little faith was all it took to completely remedy her from this awful disease. And Jesus calls her daughter, which is one of the few times He uses that word in reference to somebody. The word "daughter" is such an affectionate word and was used on a woman who has not had affection for a time.
Many times, I long for something to mend my brokenness and alleviate my aching heart. Not all the time do I turn to Jesus, but when I do, I can see Him setting me free from my chains of sin and filling the true desires of my heart. In Isaiah 61, it says that He gives us a crown of beauty instead of ashes; splendid clothes instead of despair. We don't have to tremble in fear when we bring Him our sin and brokenness. He says He will set us free from affliction. He wants to call us by a new name -- He wants to call us a child of God, His beloved daughter.
When we've spent ourselves to where we feel like we have nothing to offer, nothing left to give of ourselves, God tells us that He has already given us more than we could ever need. When we don't feel loved or worthy of anything, we can know that we are an adored daughter of God. All I need... and all you need is to touch the end of His robe and be filled and made well.
