We Are Every Woman.

It sounds crazy, but it took me 24 years to realize God KNOWS I'm a girl. And all that that entails. Some of us have no problem believing the God of the Universe is fully capable of handling...the Universe. But we aren't always sure He can handle our space in it. Stasi Eldredge says in Captivating that most women feel we are both too much and too little at the same time. I totally get this! On the days I feel that I am too little, God seems so big. But on the days I feel too much, somehow He shrinks. He becomes the God of the Universe Except Me. Hunger in Africa? God can handle that. Sex Trafficking in St. Louis? God is handling that. The Christian Underground in China? Just you wait til He shows us what's happening there, 'cause it's gonna be big! But me? 5'6, 140 lb. me? Nope, we've officially passed beyond His reach.

Only in the last couple of months did I learn this was completely untrue. God created the Universe. He can handle it. God also created me. He can handle Me. Because sometimes, women want...no, NEED, to be handled. And by handled, I mean held. When this life-long Christian feels gut-wrenching doubt (because that's a real thing, most of the time) she needs to have a good cry and some assurance that if she reaches out, something else will reach back to her.

When the distance between me and God seems so big, I remember that God is really good at big things, which makes Him uniquely qualified to reach across that distance. And when Grace takes hold, ladies, our only job is to hold on and not let go. But even then, God is really good at the holding part and even better at listening. He knows the place of fear and worry my words are coming from. He created the tiny part of my heart that hurts in ways for which there are no words and He speaks its language. Yesterday I was getting ready for bed and realized, Father, I haven't talked to you all day. I haven't even thought about you today. And the response was so quiet, yet so clear: Dear Heart, I haven't stopped thinking about you since you fell asleep last night. (Cue tears.)

Psalm 103: 14 tells us that He knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.  He knows the stuff we're made of. Emotions. Cravings. Hormones. He knows how these affect us because He put them there.

Speaking of dust, I saw an anti-fat-shaming video last week. Yes, this is a thing and yes it does have a purpose in this blog. In this video, one of the most beautiful self-identified-overweight women I've ever seen unintentionally preached the Gospel. "When you see someone on the street," she said, "Don't judge their character by their size. You don't know if they are funny, creative, depressing or nerdy based on whether or not they weigh 120, 150 or 200 pounds. Most importantly, you don't know if they just lost 120 pounds."

Listen to me, ladies. When you see a woman, any woman, anywhere, don't underestimate her - you don't know the mess in her message (Citation nod to Judah Smith). What you do know is that she's a woman. And God created a tiny part of her heart that is pumping blood, tears and dust the exact same way yours is.  

God alone is the living water that makes that dust beautiful. You cannot be another woman's living water, but you can tell her how you used to be dust.