I’ve been reading Captivating again, I admit it. This book, written by John and Stasi Eldredge has spoken to my heart over and over again about what it means to be a woman of God, to be lost in the thrill of God’s plan for me, to walk in the fullness of who He designed me to be, and to offer my gifts and myself to the world around me in ways that bring life and hope to those around me. There’s a page near the end that is underlined and dog-eared and worn like so many pages in my Bible, because it speaks truth, speaks to my heart and encourages me for the journey. It says (and guys reading this – don’t check out – there is truth for you here too):
“As a woman who has been ransomed and redeemed, you can be strong and tender. You speak to the world of God’s mercy, mystery, beauty, and his desire for intimate relationship. You are inviting; you can risk being vulnerable, offering the weight of your life as well as your need for more, because you are safe in God’s love. You labor with God to bring forth life – in creativity, in work, in others. Your aching, awakened heart leads you to the feet of Jesus, where you wait on him and wait for him. The eyes of his heart are ever upon you. The King is captivated by your beauty. We need you. We need you to awaken to God more fully and to awaken the desires of the heart that he placed within you so that you will come alive to him and to the role that is yours to play …” (emphasis mine)
I’ve been thinking about these words a lot lately as I have been studying, pondering and meditating on Proverbs 10:16, which says in the Easy-to-Read Version, “What good people do brings life …” (emphasis mine) Do you hear that? Brings life … what a phrase! The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary definition of “bring” includes the following explanation: “to attract or draw along.” The Strong’s Concordance definition for the word “life” in that verse, says that it comes from a root meaning, “to live … causatively to revive: - keep (leave, make) alive … nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life) revive, (X God) save (alive, life, lives) … be whole.” In case you are caught up on the fact that the verse begins with “what good people do” (which is completely subjective, what “good” is), other translations begin by saying the “labors of the righteous” (KJV, for example). Well, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38 make clear that the righteous live by faith. So, if we are people who live by faith in Jesus Christ, we have been given this weighty mandate, this description of what our lives should be about – attracting and drawing people to life in Christ, reviving, nourishing, recovering and repairing, saving lives and bringing wholeness to those around us who are broken and hurting, crying to be noticed. Our labors, our work, our very existence should be spent in bringing this kind of life to those around us.
As much as I am falling in love with these passages, with the idea of bringing life, I find I am often exhausted by the thought of it. There is so much hurt, so much brokenness around us everyday. Where do we even start? And then I realize, the verse says in the King James “the labor of the righteous.” Labor is not an easy task. Look it up in the dictionary. The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary definition of “labor” includes “weariness” in the first several options. Even Dictionary.com identifies “labor” as being particularly hard and fatiguing work. Ask any woman who has given birth to a child. It takes hours, sometimes days, after nine months of being pregnant. It’s grueling and painful and it requires everything in her to push. But does she look at it and think to herself, “Oh, it’s not worth it. I’m not even going to try?” Of course not! Because the result is life. It’s worth it. Every second of pushing, of pain, of morning sickness and cramping and swelling feet – it is worth it to bring forth life. And such is our labor of love to be to bring life in those around us, in the name of Jesus Christ, to attract and draw people to the love of Christ.
So, even though I am exhausted, even though some days I just want to curl up and stay in bed, I will continue to go to the hard places, the dark places, the broken places. I will continue to reach out in love to the single mom battling everyday for the energy and mental health to parent a special needs child while simultaneously providing the attention her older child needs, to the woman and her four children who feel trapped in an abusive situation and don’t see how they can possibly leave, to the child who finds herself pregnant and alone facing a future of uncertainties and judgment, to the little neighbor girl who crawls into my lap for a hug because she doesn’t get one anywhere else. Because it’s worth it, seeing the life of Christ beginning to dawn in their eyes and the love of our Savior God soften and change their hearts. And because it’s needed.
How will you labor to bring life to those around you today? Seek God. Open your eyes. And give till it hurts, because it will be worth it, in Christ.
“Therefore, my beloved borthers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58, ESV
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