Do you SEE this woman?

While on vacation I was given an opportunity to share at a Christian Crisis Center for women and children. It was kind of last minute, so I didn't have anything prepared. As I prayed about what to share God strongly impressed Luke 7:36-50, The Sinful Woman. I absolutely LOVE this account! As a new believer,  I had a pastor identify me with the woman in this story, a Sinful woman with a sordid past. He couldn't identify with me, because he didn't see his sin as bad as mine. He had lived an "upright" life.

I was truly taken aback. I thought we had ALL fallen short of the glory of God.That was my understanding of the GOSPEL. That was my first run in with a modern day Pharisee. I reminded him that we are ALL that sinful woman in light of a Holy God. When we see our sin properly in light of who Jesus is, we are broken, we see our need for forgiveness, and our inadequacy.

My heart for the precious women in that center was to point them to El Roi, the God that SEES them. The God that sees past all their walls and pain. The God that sees past their sordid reputations. The God that was broken hearted when they were used and abused. The God that shed his blood for their every sin, however little or great it was.

I love when Jesus asks Simon the Pharisee, "Do you SEE this woman?"
Because all Simon could see was the scarlet of her sin, a prostitute, a label...
He couldn't see her humanity. He saw a lower class woman who sold her body for money. He saw no value in her whatsoever.

It was so neat to see the women come Alive as I shared this with them. It was beautiful to see tears well up in their eyes as they processed how Jesus dealt with this woman. HE SAW HER! HE FREED HER! HE DEFENDED HER! He empowered her. He gave her hope. He loved HER!

I wonder if these women have EVER been SEEN? It was a beautiful sight to watch the Holy Spirit minister God's truth to their hearts and to point them to the ONE who SEES them.

So friends, I gladly identify with The Sinful woman. The true worshipper of Jesus. The broken woman washing Jesus's feet with her tears, kissing the beautiful feet that had brought her freedom. The woman that  poured out expensive oil on Jesus's  feet, unveiling her glory (her hair) and wiping his feet with it, demonstrating that HE ALONE deserves GLORY!!!!

Today...I'll write.

When I was in 2nd grade, I remember getting lost in the art of writing. I loved creating, allowing my imagination to come out on paper. I would sit at my moms type writer and write out short stories. The first story I remember writing was about these silly monsters. They weren't scary at ALL, just very silly. As I reached my teen years, I absolutely fell in love with poetry. There was something so deep about it. Poetry was able to ignite feelings in me that other forms of art couldn't. In my early twenties I finally decided it was okay to let the world around me know that I could SING. My writing morphed into song writing. Little lyrical poems. I found such happiness in putting pen to paper. Hours would go by as I was lost creating something from deep inside of my soul.

When I became a christian, this art was set to the side. I needed to get to know the CREATOR, THE ONE who made me in His image. Slowly, as I grew in Understanding His word, I began to write songs about Him. As I grew spiritually, I found it hard to enjoy writing. I wondered why. Maybe its because I was insecure, Maybe it was because it FELT much deeper than anything I had ever experienced while in the world, Maybe it's because I couldn't find the words to describe Him. All the adjectives, and experiences that I had, just seems mediocre when I penned them. There was just something missing. I felt much more careful with my thoughts. Maybe it's because I'm afraid of rejection. I'm sure its a cocktail of ALL of these things, intermingling, like a Dam in my soul.

Two of my favorite writers are, Novelist Francine Rivers, and Song Writer John Mark McMillan. They've got it!!!! When I read their writing, It's SOUL shaking! They've broken the levy and living waters flow from them. When I read through the Psalms, I desire to be honest and emotional, pouring out everything inside. But it's like a levy that just won't break.

So, I've committed to writing daily. I've committed to posting weekly.

I wonder if its been a long dry season because writing is something that I have not fully surrendered to Jesus. Like it was something that was just ALL mine...I've prayed for the last 12 years for God to open up the floodgates. Today I'm surrendering this gift to Him, may He use me and grow me...Like a whittled arrow, In His hands.