Essence

There is a book that is being studied in our church and has been for the past several semesters in small groups. It is the book, Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge. I've seen the book on book shelves and seen other women reading it, but never really thought too much of it. I've heard friends talk about it, but friends talk about whatever they are passionate about at the time--I think all women do that. Well, it just so happened that my husband has really wanted to read the book Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge, for quite some time. As one of my friends explained it, "Wild at Heart explains why men are the way they are, but also who God intended them to be."

After about a year that Brad wanted the book, and still wanted it, I bought it for him for Christmas. He's been simply devouring the book and said that I needed to read Captivating and then we would switch. So now even my husband is making a big deal about this book, so maybe there's something to it. So I bought it the other day when it was on sale. I didn't start to read it right away. There was something almost intimidating about the book. I know it's funny. It's just a book, right? But I've read those kinds of books before. The kind that open your eyes to a new way of looking at the same old thing, but are truly amazing, and at the same time force you to make a choice: you'll either make a change or stay the same. I wasn't sure I was ready for that kind of a read. But I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and opened up to page ix--the introduction. (Don't think that this will be a blog on the book as a whole...I'm on page 36.) I think I felt "safe enough" to read it, when in the introduction, the author said, "Rest assured--this is not a book about all the things you are failing to do as a woman," (ix).

So at any rate, I called today's blog, "Essence," because by page 36, that's what God said He created woman to be, His essence. God created woman to be a reflection of who He is relationally, His tenderheartedness, "who yearns for relationship with us. If you have any doubt about that, simply look at the message he sent us in Woman. Amazing. Not only does God long for us, but he longs to be loved by us," (28). On the next page, the author says, "[God] wants us to love him. to seek him with all 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," (29). After reading the scripture and prayer for today and then reading today's The Word for You Today, I really felt that God was making a huge point in expressing that not only is He relational, He wants to be sought after and known intimately, even more so than one spouse can know another.

Today's scripture was from Daniel 11:32, "...but the people who know their God...," and the prayer is to Seek to know God more. The Word for You Today is entitled, "Alone with God," and is about not replacing God with a "relationship idol." God is relational to His core. He created women to show the world how to approach and begin to love on their God. The author of Captivating says, "Look out across the earth and say to yourselves, 'The whole vast world is incomplete without me. Creation reached its zenith in me,'" (25). Without bragging, I can say that the core of me is the essence of God.