"And so the journey to discover what God meant when he created woman in his image- when he created
you as his woman- that journey begins with
desire. [pg. 8]" I like that the Eldredges say that God created "you" as "his woman". I think that in life there is no desire so great as when you find the one you know you are meant to love, to commit your heart to and you want and hope and pray and you desire more than anything to be "his woman".
I know that when I realized I was falling in love with my best friend [who is now my husband], I wanted more than anything to be his woman, for him to realize that he needed me to be his as much as I did.
Song of Songs 6:3-5,9-10, and 12 ESV
[She]I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies. [He] You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me... My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?"[She] Before I was aware, my desire set me among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince...
She dazzles her husband. There is no doubt in her mind that she is his woman. From what I gather of her time and culture, chariots were very highly prized possessions. In the throws of hand to hand combat, having a chariot would be equivalent to having the first rifle in battle. The chances of winning against a soldier on a chariot when you yourself was on foot was slim to none. And so, I believe, this is why she chooses this as her metaphor for why her husband needs her. Her desire for him would most likely win any battle waged.
I believe with every fiber of my being that God is as relational as we need him to be. When we are children, he is to us a father. When we are confused, he is a guidance counselor if you will. And then there is the point in our life when we need to be needed. We need to be loved and adored. And it is at that point that God becomes our greatest love. And our desire for him can win the battle waged against us, because his desire for us has already won the war.
Satan, the serpent, the enemy, the wily one, has intent for the Children of the King. Yes, the war was lost on Calvary, but Satan still holds a temporary control. And so he seeks to destroy any assets for Christ's kingdom while he still can. What does this mean? It means that we will face hundreds of thousands of battles in our lives simply because he is an enemy who refuses to concede.
Imagine there is a four year old child. And it is up against an enemy soldier. It's not a pretty picture to imagine, because there is no doubt in our mind. If the child's father is not present, that child will die. Now, it is so easy to say "Well, I'm a Christian! My Father in Heaven will never depart from me!" And that is true. He won't. However from my personal experience, it is possible for us to depart from him. I went through at least 5 or 6 years where I separated myself from God. I chose to live in danger, and because He loves me so much that he lets me chose my path, God allowed me to do my own thing.
Now imagine a young woman in love. The same enemy soldier is in front of her. The soldier stands between her and her love. It's true, she could meet the same fate as the lone child. But she will do everything in her power to be reunited with her love. She would face the enemy a hundred thousand times, or more, if it meant being with the one her heart yearns for. That is the power of desire. And desire is what God wants from his bride, once we have transitioned from one stage of our relationship with Him to the next.
Song of Songs 8:6 and 7 ESV
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.
Desire is a seal, a flash of fire... the flame of the Lord. What an exciting way to begin a journey. So where does this journey take us? In Captivating, Staci tells of her romance. "John wrote me letters, lots of letters. Each one filled with his love for God and his passion for me, his desire for me... I came out to my car after my waitressing shift ended to find his poetry underneath my windshield. Verses written for me, to me! He loved me... I loved being romanced. [pg 10]"
How often do we as Christians look at the scriptures and realize that it is simply a love letter, it is poetry. And it is written for us, and to us. We are loved, we are being romanced! The journey that starts with desire suddenly erupts into the very flame of the Lord, and we can allow ourselves to be consumed by His passion for us. When this happens, as John and Stasi go on to tell us, God strips away the preconceived notions we have of ourselves. He, in the center of this great romance, shows us that he has seen in us a beauty that He would unveil, that he would reveal of his beloved, to her.
"The longings God has written deep in your heart are telling you something essential about what it means to be a woman, and the life he meant for you to live. Now we know-- many of those desires have gone unmet, or been assaulted, or simply so long neglected, that most women end up living two lives. On the surface... We are getting by. On the inside women lose themselves... to numb the ache of our hearts. But your heart is still there, crying out to be set free, to find the life your desires tell you of. You can find that life-- if you are willing to embark on a great adventure. [pg 19]"
