Reposting as my heart revisits-“Broken Ribs”

Decided to repost an entry! My heart is still breaking for women world wide who do not see their worth! I recently returned from The Colour Conference at Hillsong.

“The Sisterhood” is a term Hillsong uses for their women but it is a term that reflects the heart & spirit of a rising generation of women world-changers! Age, background & culture are proving no barrier to this emerging & beautiful movement. Everyday women from every corner of the earth are leaning into the revelation that they are indeed daughters of a living & loving God & that as HIS daughters, they carry a capacity & authority to bring change in an ever-challenging & needful world.”
Bobby Houston-Hillsong

Women are an answer, not an after-thought! Man was alone and that was not good! So God made us!
May you see & step into your value, worth and God ordained destinies sweet sisters!

“When I see what has happened to the young women in the city, the pain breaks my heart.”
Lamentations 3:51

A friend of mine shared a moment from her daughter’s love story. When the young couple met and began dating, the boy looked at the apple of his eye and said, “I have found my rib”. It is one of the most precious terms of endearment that I have ever heard.

“Then the Lord God made a WOMAN from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said , ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called WOMAN, for she was taken out of man.”
Genesis 2:22

So let us focus now ,as women, on what it means to be a “rib”. I did a little rib research and this is what I found. Ribs protect the heart and they are hard to break; but once broken, there is no human treatment for repair, only God heals a rib! Broken ribs are very painful and it is hard to breath when a rib is cracked. I literally broke 2 ribs in a car wreck in high school. No one could hug me for months and crying and laughter both left me breathless; therefore, I strove to remain numb, so as to alleviate anything that called for extreme emotion. Ladies, do you see the similarities! We are sensitive to the hearts of others while being tough and hard to break. Once we are broken,however, there is no remedy this WORLD has to offer. The pain can often be so bad that we fail to breath! Only GOD heals a “BROKEN RIB”!

We have heard the saying, “Where your “misery” is, is where your ministry is!” I alway thought this statement was synonymous with, “Use your “mess” as your “message”. While that is partially true, we are to use our testimony to point others to Christ, there is another layer to its meaning. What breaks your heart? What injustice or brokenness are you passionate about seeing eradicated this side of heaven? Many times these passions flow from personal past experience, but many times they simply flow from the purposes God has planted in your heart. “For it is GOD WHO is at work in you, both to will and to work for HIS good pleasure!” (Phil 2:13)

My passion is to walk with women, from the cradle to the grave, pursuing the heart of God. My best friend at the age of 8 lost her father when he was killed by a drunk driver. I remember holding her hands and asking if I could pray for her. I was scary deep at an early age and my heart has always broken, like I was literally living through another’s misery myself. That is too much for one to bare, if we do not live by the strength of Christ in us. HIS yoke is easy and HIS burden is light! When we carry alone we will ALWAYS BREAK! When I fully surrendered to Christ, my heart did not stop breaking, in fact in some ways it broke more; however there was and is a HOLY peace that only comes from letting Christ minister in and through me. God surrounded me with “Women of Wisdom” for many years before he moved me out of the desert. I listened and learned and am continuing to glean from the generations that have gone before me.

What does this look like? In my life, right here and right now? As I dove into the Book of James with my small group of teenage girls last week, we were asking ourselves over and over, “What does mercy look like in our lives?”(Thank you sweet Beth Moore for your practical guidance in applying GODs WORD to our lives!) We asked the Lord to break our hearts for what breaks HIS! What are each of our pressure points? I had just written my blog post “History of Prostitution” and I knew that that “word” was pushing some buttons for me. I was truly wrestling with a word! I went to bed unsettled and woke up unsettled, at 3:51a.m. I must add! A friend of mine had told me that when she woke up at crazy hours she would often look up the Bible verses with the Chapter and verse corresponding to her internal alarm. I wish I could say that I did that but I did not. I thought about doing it, but did not! It was not until late after noon that same day that I was reading a book that happened to mention that same practice for insomnia! You better believe I went looking for 3:51 in the Bible and you will never guess what I found!

Lamentations 3:51-“When I see what has happened to the young women in the city, the pain breaks my heart!” God specifically spoke to me from HIS WORD saying, “I designed you this way! I am giving you MY opportunities to share ME with young women and I alone equip and empower you to help young women see themselves through the lens of Christ! I have called you to it! NOW I will do it in and through you!”

One of the definitions for prostitution was:”One who sells one’s abilities,talent or name for an unworthy purpose.” It made me think of how often we “ribs” sell our selves short-“SHORT RIBS”. We have a history of giving ourselves away for the worthless and we do that because we have some where along the way bought into the lie that we are “worthless”. We sell ourselves for popularity, wealth, academic accolades, the attention of a boy, sports, hobbies, etc… We will sell ourselves for just about anything that brings momentary happiness. WE ARE ALL PROSTITUTES when we ARE NOT surrendered to Christ. When we see ourselves as-CHRIST IS OUR LIFE- everything changes! Our confidence is in HIM and HE does not make trash. HE only makes the “Priceless” and we were bought with HIS blood. We see that our worth is determined by the Master not man.

I am raising 2 boys in this world of “ribs” and I pray I raise them to guard and protect their hearts and their purity. Lamentations 3:51 was written in a Hebrew culture where the men were suppose to guard, care for and value the women. Their failure to do so made the women highly vulnerable to all kinds of exploitations-rape, prostitution, incest, and slavery, just to name a few. If we look at the world around us today, we still see the same exploitation. As a mom to these young men, my goal is to raise them to pursue a friendship with God over a friendship with this world. The more they know God the more they will see women and all others through the lens of Christ. May they be known as “rib protectors” through the wisdom and power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I challenge you to pray the prayer-Lord break my heart for what breaks YOURS! HE will! When you recognize the burden- whether it be the orphan crisis, the widows, the homeless, the poor, the lonely, the abused, the disabled, the rejected, the slave, the addict -just to name a few-ask God, “What do I do?” Again, HE will answer you. “If HE gives you the vision-HE will make “provision”, if HE calls you to it, HE will enable you to do it, and if HE burdens your heart, HE will bare it through you! (all great quotes that I did not coin but are very true!) HE IS THE SAVIOR NOT US-WE JUST GET TO BE A PART OF HIS MIRACLES! May our life we a living story book of “I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on YOU-GOD DID IT! Come and see!”

Dear God,
Thank you for breaking our hearts for what breaks YOURS! Please continue to open our eyes to opportunities to be YOUR hands and feet. Help us to understand Your WORD and speak to us in such a way that we are changed each time we enter the pages! I want to know YOU! Thank you for your promise to reveal YOURSELF to me! YOU are my BEST FRIEND!

I do not care for “safe”, if it means I close my eyes.
When I see the suffering, may I move in by its side.
My bent says lock my doors-protect those in my reach.
I TRUST GOD-help me practice what I preach!

GO GOD