Oprah often asks her guests – in her TV interviews and in her magazine – this question: “What do you know for sure?”
Of the many ways I could answer that, here is one that remains constant. I know for sure that Jesus understands a woman’s heart.
It started out being “I know that Jesus understands us.” A Palm Sunday sermon 20 years ago took that truth from a head knowledge to a more powerful heart connection. The gist of the sermon was that Jesus, during His time on earth, and especially during the events of Holy Week, knew what it felt like to be lonely, to be misunderstood, to have the “system” (both religious and legal) that was supposed to protect people turn against Him, to have friends break promises, betray Him and not be there for Him. The list could go on and on.
The point is – it hit me in a new and powerful way that I was not only forgiven, I was understood. My specifics might not line up with what Jesus experienced, but the comfort of knowing that my emotions were understood became real.
Fast forward a lot of years and I found myself struggling to breathe (metaphorically) because the pain of a marriage that ended was so great, the betrayal so agonizing. In reality, it had been coming for a long time but those early weeks and months after the separation took the pain to a new level.
I found myself reading the gospels and becoming acutely aware of Jesus’ encounters with women. There’s the woman who anointed His feet, the woman at the well, the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, mothers whose children died, women who needed physical or spiritual healing, and the list goes on. Luke even specifically refers to the women who financially supported Jesus’ ministry out of their own means, giving them names – not just referring to them as someone’s wife.
I was a broken-hearted woman reading these stories, someone whose core identity as a wife and a woman had been trampled on. And here’s what I saw – a lot of little details that brought hope to my heart: Jesus looked into their eyes, He praised them in front of the crowd and He took specific steps to restore them to community (i.e., to alleviate their shame and their isolation). He acknowledged and received their faith and their love – and treated both of those as precious gifts. I have journal pages full of the emotions connected to the understanding and comfort that were embedded in those encounters.
The agony passed, the healing began, I could breathe again, do what I needed to do and even thrive. And I knew this for sure: Jesus understands a woman’s heart.
Praise God that Jesus understood women when He walked the earth and still understands us now! Also praise for His meeting you 20 years ago and then later in a new way when you were in a broken place. May you be filled with joy this Holy Week!
I don’t know the reason YOU think you wrote these very words on this very morning. But I am certain every word, every nuance, was His blessing for me. To God be the Glory and God bless you Betty.
So well said, so true!
Betty,
Thanks for sharing your heart and you life so that others may know Jesus better! I have added you to my RSS feed, so now I can read your blog w every new update. Thanks for writing and keeping us all in the loop of what great things God is doing in and through you!
Betty,
I was very touched by what you wrote. Thank you so much.
Blessed are you Adonai, our G-d, King of the universe, for your abundant faithfulness to Betty.
Thank you again, for sharing your heart. Even though I had the agonizing privilege of walking alongside you during some of these painful times, it is good to be reminded of the true things that Abba revealed to you during that time – that are true for all time. You have been gifted with the ability to articulate the reality of what transpires between you & God in a way that I am so blessed by. I speak often of how my friendship with you has so impacted me & shaped me & my life as a disciple of Jesus. You are a jewel that I treasure. Thanks with sharing from your depths with me & with others. Love you tons!!!