Rubies Series-Day 2

Romance is the deepest thing in life. It is deeper even than reality.

-G.K. Chesterton

    As women, we become more beautiful when we know we're loved. Think of your favorite Cinderella-like movie, the leading lady starts out ignored, un-appreciated, frumpy, and un-important. "Cut off from love, rejected, no one pursuing her, something in a woman wilts like a flower no one waters anymore. She withers into resignation, duty, and shame. The radiance of her countenance goes out, as if a light has been turned off. But this same woman, who everyone thought was rather plain and unengaging, becomes lovely and inviting when she is pursued."

Some of my favorite Cinderella-like leading ladies are Tulah in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Audry in the Rocky movies. They begin the movies unsure of themselves, hiding behind work and family, until one day...they're pursued. Someone thinks they're special and thinks they have a lot to offer, someone adores them JUST the way they are. They didn't bloom just because they had interest from the opposite sex, they bloomed because they felt worthy of beauty. The best was brought out in them. They were romanced. Our femininity is special. Unique. And through it, we long for romance. But in order to receive this, we mustn't wait for a man.

    In my teenage years I spoke at various churches and youth retreats on the subject of purity and dating. I had a good head on my shoulders, preaching about abstinence, the priviledge of courting, and the dangers of giving your heart away too soon. I had myself convinced that as long as Jesus was my best friend I didn't NEED a boyfriend. I didn't need a man to complete me, but someday I would find one who would compliment me. I was wise to know those things at such a young age, but I didn't know how my NEEDS would change as I grew into a woman. The "best friend" relationship didn't necessarily satisfy anymore. God longs for us to know Him in a different sort of way. Afterall, He calls Himself the "Bridegroom" (Matt. 9:15, Matt 25:1-10, John 3:29). The definition of "bridegroom" is fiance. Lover.

"He wants to heal us through his love to become mature women who actually know him. He wants us to experience verses like, 'Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her' (Hos 2:19). And "You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride" (Song 4:9). Our hearts are desperate for this. What would it be like to experience for yourself that the truest thing about his heart toward ours...is deep, fiery, passionate love? This is, after all, what a woman was made for."

He wants to be more than your best friend. He wants to fill every void left by absent fathers, wounded mothers, loveless marriages, the sin of this world, and self-induced sorrow. He also longs to be your Bridegroom. Through Him, you will take part in the greatest Cinderella-like story ever told.