Tenderness

Luke: 23:31 | As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you say, “‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ‘ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

When I read this I asked the Lord, “Why did you specifically mention that women followed Jesus to Golgotha, weeping and wailing for him?”

There was a pause.

The Lord reminded me of the events of this past week.

I have been asking God to use me in greater capacity in this season. He began by giving me words for specific women in my life, and I believe it was kind of like a test to see if I believe and if I’m ready to speak what he’s showing me—

“Jessica, you’ve been asking me for this. I want to give you this gift in a greater measure. I’m speaking words to you about the people you are praying for. What will you do with these words?” Of course, my reply is, “I’m available for you to use me to do and say whatever you’re leading me to do and say.” (My life verse has been Isaiah 6:8: Here am I, Send me!) I’m willing. No matter how I’m perceived, no matter what I may look like to others, I am willing to carry His message to those who need it most, for such a time as this. Some of the words he has given me start with the thoughts that the Lord knows these women are thinking, and these are the notes I’ve taken down:

“I’m unseen.”

“I’m unheard.”

“I can’t go on.”

“I am questioning everything about life right now.”

“I’ve lost hope.”

The Lord will go on to give me a message for them. A love letter straight from heaven. To encourage these women that God is listening, he’s hovering, he’s watching, with compassion and tender love.

Women are doing all it takes to hold it all together, at all times, for everyone. It’s in the night hours, when the kids are in bed, a thorough dive into social media has been made, exhaustion abounds, the lights are out, and the tears start to flow with the thoughts mentioned above. It’s the late night heart cries that he’s speaking to. The tears that no one else sees, the heartbreak, the life or death thoughts. God is right there, and he’s saying, “I carried my cross, I’ve already died to give you freedom from that. I’m here. You are not alone. I want to lift your burdens for you.”

I have to think, that the common thread for women are the heart cries. The deep things we carry that we don’t talk about, frankly because we just can’t go there. We don’t have time to crumble, or we don’t feel safe enough to feel vulnerable enough to crumble. I believe the women who mourned and wailed for Jesus experienced something, if even for just a moment, where in their encounter with Jesus they “knew” and for the first time in their life, they felt truly “known.” And it is because of that radical life transformation, they were able to put their emotions on full display in mourning for the only One who spoke light into their darkness.

His love for you is so tender and so pure. His love leads us to repentance. To a place of peace and acceptance. I’m praying you allow yourself to really know who Jesus is, and to know that you are 100 percent accepted, just as you are. Just as the Lord was taken out of this earth, one day his holy spirit will be taken out of the earth as well. Come to him while the tree is still green.