God's Heart for Relationship:
The vast desire and capacity a woman has for intimate relationships tells us of God's vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships. In fact, this may be THE most important thing we ever learn about God- that he yearns for a relationship with us. "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). The whole story of the Bible is a love story between God and his people. He YEARNS for us; he CARES for us; he LOVES us.
What a comfort to know that this universe we live in is relational to its core, that our God is a tenderhearted God who yearns for a relationship with us. Not only does God long for us, but he longs to be loved by US! I think we have missed this... I mean.... how many of us see God as LONGING to be LOVED by YOU?!
[Clip from Wild at Heart:
After years of hearing the heart-cry of women, I am convinced beyond a doubt of this: God wants to be loved. He wants to be a priority to someone. How could we have missed this? From cover to cover, from beginning to end, the cry of God's heart is, "Why won't you choose me?" It is amazing to me how humble, how vulnerable God is on this point. "You will find me," says the Lord, "when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). In other words, "Look for me, pursue me-- I want you to pursue me." Amazing. As Tozer says, "God wants to be wanted."]
Uuuuhhhhhmmmmm..... Sound familiar?? :)
He WANTS us to love him! To seek him with all of our hearts. A woman longs to be sought after, too, with the whole heart of her pursuer. God longs to be DESIRED-- just as a woman longs to be desired. This is not a weakness. God feels the same way.
And on the other hand... a woman is also fierce. As the old saying goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." That's JUST how God acts when he isn't chosen! "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will NOT share your affection with any other god!" (Exodus 20:5). A woman's righteous jealousy speaks of the jealousy of God for us.
An Adventure to Share:
While Eve has a glory for relationship, that is not all she is essential for. Back in Genesis, when God sets his image bearers on the earth, he gives them their mission: "And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominin over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Genesis 1:28). Call it the Human Mission-- to be all and do all God sent us here to do. Notice, this mission is given to both Adam and to Eve. "And God said to them...." Eve is standing right there when God gives the world over to us! She has a vital role to play; she is a partner in this great adventure. We were intended to do together. In fact, not only is Eve needed, but she is desperately needed.
That longing in the heart of a woman to share life together as a great adventure-- that comes straight from the heart of God, who also longs for this. He does not want to be an option in our lives. He does not want to be an appendage, a tagalong. Neither does any woman. God is essential. He wants us to need Him- desperately. Eve is essential. She has an irreplaceable role to play. And so you'll see that women are endowed with fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, a vision to make the world a better place.
Beauty to Unveil:
Beauty is essential to God. No-- that's not putting it strongly enough. Beauty is the essence of God. The first way we know this is through nature, the world God has given us. Scripture says that the created world is filled with the glory of God (Isaiah 6:3). In what way? Primarily through its beauty. Beauty of such magnificence and variety and unembarrassed lavishness, ripe beauty, lush beauty, beauty given to us with such generosity and abundance it is almost scandalous.
Nature is not primarily functional, but primarily beautiful. Nature at the height of its glory shouts, "BEAUTY IS ESSENTIAL!" revealing that Beauty is the essence of God. The whole world is full of his glory.
John describes God as radiant as gemstones, as richly adorned in golds and reds and greens and blues, shimmering as crystal. Why, these are the very things that Cinderella is given-- the very things women still prefer to adorn themselves with when they want to look their finest. Hmmmm.... and isn't that just want a woman longs to hear?? "You are radiant this evening. You are absolutely breathtaking."
Beauty is the essence of a woman. This needs to be perfectly clear that it means both a physical beauty and a soulful/spiritual beauty. The one depends upon and flows out of the other. Yes, the world cheapens beauty, making it all about a perfect figure few woman can attain. But Christians minimize it too, or overspiritualize it, making it all about "character." We MUST recover the prize of Beauty! Beauty is too vital to lose!
Why Beauty Matters:
Beauty is powerful.
1. Beauty speaks. What does it say? Think of being stuck in traffic for an hour. Horns blaring, people shouting, exhaust pouring into your windows. Then... remember what it's like to come into a beautiful place, a garden or a quiet beach. There is room for your soul. It expands. You can breathe again. You can rest. It is goooooood. :) All is well. Your heart begins to quiet and peace begins to come into your soul. And this is what it is like to be around a woman at rest, a woman comfortable in her feminine beauty. She is enjoyable and lovely. And the same is true for a woman who is not a rest... she says to the world, "All is not well. Things are not going to turn out all right." We need what Beauty speaks.
2. Beauty invites. Recall what it is like to hear a beautiful peace of music. it captures you; you want to sit down and just drink it in. We buy the CD and play it many times over. (This is not visual, showing us that beauty is deeper than looks.) Music like this commands your attention, invites you to come more deeply into it. The same is true for a beautiful peace of nature-- you want to enter and explore. A great book can be "captivating." It draws you in, holds your attention. All of the responses that God wants of us. All of the responses the women want too. Beauty invites.
3. Beauty nourishes. It is a kind of food our souls crave. A woman's breast nourishes a baby- a stunning picture of the way in which Beauty itself nourishes us.
4. Beauty comforts. There is something healing about Beauty. Why do we send flowers to the sick, or the ones that lost a loved one? Beauty comforts and soothes the soul.
5. Beauty inspires. As Jack Nicholson says to Helen Hunt at the end of As Good As It Gets, "You make me want to be a better man." Isn't it true? Think of what it might have been like to have been in the presence of a woman like Mother Teresa. Her life was so beautiful, and it called us to something higher. A teacher explained why he insisted on putting a fountain and flowers in the courtyard of the building. "Because these children need to be inspired. They need to know that life can be better." Beauty inspires.
6. Beauty is transcendent. It is our most immediate experience of the eternal. Think of what it's like to behold a gorgeous sunset, or the ocean at dawn. Remember the ending of a great story. Sometimes the beauty is so deep it pierces us with longing. For what? For life as it was meant to be. Beauty speaks of heaven to come, when all shall be beautiful. Beauty draws us to God.
Wrap it Up:
This does not mean that a woman is prized only for her good looks. It does not mean that a woman is here only to complete a man. What was said was, first, Eve is the crown of creation. There is something uniquely magnificent and powerful about a woman. The purpose was to try to reveal the immeasurable dignity, the holiness of your feminine heart by showing that it is God who longs for Romance; it is God who reveals beauty as essential to life. You are the image bearer of God. That is why you long for those things too.
There is a radiance hidden in your heart that the world DESPERATELY needs!!
*** Part 1 and Part 2 come directly from Chapter 2 of "Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul." As I was reading I wanted to share with everyone what I was learning-- how our womanly desires come straight from the heart of God. I hope you were inspired and enlightened and learned just as much as I did. If you want the book for yourself, it is written by John and Stasi Eldredge, the Author of Wild at Heart (which is the boy version of this book).
