Dear Ladies-
I know some of you have probably felt your chains in the last days. I’m sure they have been rattled for some of you and pulled for others. I am sure some of you feel quite fine, you may have noticed a twinge of remembrance but were able to cling to the Father because you not only know you are safe but you believe that you are. I’m so glad for you! My heart rejoices for those of you that are finding peace and are resting in His arms, that is means for celebration. But for those of you whose chains have been rattled and pulled, I want to speak over you a bit. I want to tell you, remind you, that your identity never has been and never will be worthy to pass through the lips of someone who would describe you as less than the daughter of God that you are. Your physical, emotional or spiritual appearances and existence are not up for the grabs of others to pass off as social happening. No one has ever or will ever, have the right to speak of you like an object for the benefit of their own entertainment. You have once been freed through the blood of Christ and through the truth of your rescue and the hope provided through your restoration. God has invited you into intimate communion with Him. He sent His son to die for you so that, in these times, you could look forward in the hope of Him doing that once again, when He returns to restore the world. And through that friends, you cannot be identified through the words and thoughts of others.
I have been the object of such conversations in this life, I have been catcalled and flirted with. I have been referred to through a description of my looks, far past the boundaries of my red hair. I have been abused in all ways and my body has been left for dead on more than one occasion, in more than one way. So I can confess to you that when I heard of a man in a place of potential power, using terms that suggest that he not only has participated in these sorts of things let alone condones them, it rattled me. His words quickly reminded me of the words and actions of others and I was quickly brought back to a place that required a rescue mission. But friends the rescue was already provided and through my communion with Him, He has reminded me once again that the hurts I experienced are also hurts of His. The chains I carry, He longs to not only hold but break. That my shame was not meant for me and the actions of others are not mine to atone for. But don’t let the failed attempt of an apology or perhaps the very absence of it be the creator of new shackles or the strengthener of those that exist. You have one creator: your Father in heaven who looks at you through eyes that deemed you not only worthy but precious, who longs to heal you and has set you apart for more than what the world has decided you deserved. You have only one redeemer and He longs to break those shackles, to remove them from your body and your heart and to replace them with the truths of freedom and hope.
I know that the things that have happened to you will remain in memory as long as you walk the ground of this earth that groans for Him. I know you will have memories that will pop up at times that you did not expect and that you may feel a need to make them leave you, or you may feel like your knowledge and understanding of the Lord should make it so you are no longer weak to the hands of others. You were meant for more. Your need is not only welcome but required as you fall to His feet and ask Him to simply hold you. Your story is not who you are but it is a part of you, and He longs to redeem it. Eden is gone for now but it will come again, and in the meantime, while you wait, and while you long for Him know that through His Spirit He has left you with pieces of Eden to rest in. Your ability to commune with Him, to confess and to repent, your knowledge of His heart and the sight of His hands are all things that were present in Eden and left for you to hold while you groan, while you cry, while you suffer. But He has so much more for you dear ones, and it is coming. Your fear for today is hope for tomorrow when placed in His hands.
You are loved, cared for, seen, known, rescued, worthy, heard, wanted, sought after, desired, fought for, free……
With much love in Him,
Jessica