Excerp from Captivating

So I am reading this really great book with a really great group of girls... Its called Captivating and this little section of the current chapter we are on really just, i don't even know, touched me. The chapter was talking about creation...


What Does Eve Speak to Us?
The story of Eve holds such rich treasures for us to discover. The essence and purpose of a woman is unveiled here in the story of her creation. These profound, eternal, mythic, themes are written not just here in the coming of Eve, but in the soul of every woman after. Woman is the crown of creation - the most intricate, dazzling creature on earth. She has a crucial role to play, a destiny of her own.

And she, too, bears the image of God, but in a way that only the feminine can speak. What can we learn from her? God wanted to reveal something about himself, so He gave us Eve. When you are with a woman, ask yourself, what is she telling me about God? It will open up wonders for you.

Eve is created because things were not right without her. Something was not good/ 'It is not good for the man to be alone' (Gen. 2:18). This just staggers us. Think of it. The world is young and completely unstained. Adam is yet in his innocence and full of glory. He walks with God. nothing stands between them. They share something none of us has ever known, only longed for: an unbroken friendship, untouched by sin. Yet something is not good? Something is missing? What could it possibly be? Eve. Woman. Femininity. Wow. Talk about significance.

To be specific, what was "not good" was the fact that the man was 'alone'. 'It is not good for the human to be alone, I shall make him a sustainer beside him' (Gen. 2:18). How true this is. Whatever else we know about women., we know they are relational creature to their cores. While little boys are killing one another in mock battles on the playground, little girls are negotiating relationships....

Most women define themselves in terms of their relationships, and the quality they deem those relationships have. I am a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend. Or, I am alone. I'm not seeing anyone right now, or my children aren't calling, or my friends seems distant. This not a weakness in women- it is a glory. A glory that reflects the heart of God.

God's Heart for Relationship
The cast desire and capacity a woman has for intimate relationships tells us of God's vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships. In fact, this may be the most important thing we ever learn about God- that he yearns for relationship with us. 'Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God' (John 17:3). The whole story of the Bible is a love story between God and his people He yearns for us. He cares. He has a tender heart.

What a comfort to know that this universe we live in is relational at its core, that our God is a tenderhearted God who yearns for relationship with us. If you have any doubt about that, simply look at the message he sent us in Woman. Amazing. Not only does God long for us, but he longs to be loved by us. Oh, how we've missed this. How many of you see God as longing to be loved by you? We see him as strong and powerful, but not as needing us, vulnerable to us, yearning to be desired. But as I wrote in Wild At Heart,

After years of hearing the heart-cry of women, I am convinced beyond a doubt of this: God wants to be loved. He wants to be a priority to someone. How could have missed this? From cover to cover, from beginning to end, the cry of God's heart is, 'Why won't you choose me?' It is amazing to me how humble, how vulnerable God is on this point. 'You will find me,' says the Lord, 'when you week me with all your heart.' (Jer. 29:13) In other words, 'Look for me, pursue me- I want you to pursue me.' Amazing. As Tozer says, 'God waits to be wanted."

Can there be any doubt that God wants to be sought after? The first and greatest of all commands is to love him (Mark 12:29-30, Matt. 2236-38). He wants us to love him. To seek him with all our hearts. a woman longs to be sought after, too, with the whole heart of her pursuer. God longs to be desired. Just as woman longs to be desired. This is not some weakness or insecurity on the part of woman, that deep yearning to be desired. "Take me for for longing," Alison Krauss sings, "or leave me behind." God feels the same way. Remember the story of Martha and Mar? Mary chose God, and Jesus said that that is what he wanted. "MAry has chosen what is better" (Luke 10:42) She chose me.

Life changed dramatically when romance come into our lives. Christianity changes dramatically when we discover that it, too, is a great romance. That God yearns to share a life of beauty, intimacy, and adventure with us. "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jer. 31:3). This whole world was made for romance - the rivers and the glans, the meadows and beaches. Flowers, music, a kiss. But we have a way or forgetting all that, losing ourselves in work and worry. Eve- God's message to the world in feminine form - invites us to romance. Through her, God makes romance a priority of the universe.

So God endows Woman with certain qualities that are essential to relationship, qualities that speak of God. She is inviting. She is vulnerable. She is tender. She embodies mercy. She is also fierce and fiercely devoted. As the old saying goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." That's just how God acts when he isn't chosen. "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god!" (Ex. 2:5) A woman's righteous jealousy speaks of the jealousy of God for us. Tender and inviting, intimate and alluring, fiercely devoted. Oh yes, our God has a passionate, romantic heart. Just look at Eve."