Claire's Prayer

“𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆.”  Song of Songs 1:1

I long for the day when I shall see my Beloved face to face, when I shall stand before Him and there will be no distance at all.  I will see every little detail of His beautiful face, see His smile, the crinkles at the corners of His eyes.  I will know Him the way He knows me. I will be able to hold His hand, touch His fingers, see the scars in His wrists, knowing He endured the nails for me.  Face to face.  Can you imagine?!  There will be nothing quite like it. 

1 Corinthians 13:12 says; “𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓, 𝒅𝒊𝒎𝒍𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒎 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏.”  Way back in the city of Corinth, even though they were famous for making gorgeous, ornate mirrors, the mirrors they made were hammered out of polished bronze.  The reflection you could see was indistinct, unclear, and even distorted.  All you could make out was a dim reflection.  Sometimes we see Jesus that way, life’s journey distorts our thoughts of what He is really like.  Perceptions and opinions give us an unclear vision of our Beloved.

As a young girl, my father was hard to please, it seemed as though everything I did was not good enough.  Nothing made him smile, nothing made him proud.  Did you have one of those dads?  My perception of my Abba Father became skewed, and I filtered my view of Him through my experiences.  As I looked in the tainted mirror at Father God, I saw a God who was angry, a God who no matter how much time I spent in His Word, in prayer, serving, working, He could never ever be pleased with me!  Oh, how wrong I was!  But it wasn’t until I had my own children that I understood the love of my Father.  

I remember watching my son take his first step – I was so proud.  One little baby step and then down he went!  But he did it, he tried!  Or my daughter when she fed herself with a spoon that first time, now that was a moment. She got the spoon in her mouth but most of those squishy sweet potatoes went all over her face!  But oh, how I praised her, I grinned from ear to ear and couldn’t wait to tell her Dad.  It makes me chuckle even now to think of how proud I was.  That’s your Dad, that’s your Abba Father, proud of everything you do, smiling when you try.

And so, I long for that day, when I will see my Abba Father, see my Jesus, face to face.  No distance between us. The day when I will know Him fully just as I am fully known.  When all those twisted perceptions will be blown away by His smile, by the incredible love in His eyes.

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲!  Oh my!  For years I remember my parents telling me about the “Pearce pride.”  A pride that was passed down through British history, from generation to generation and one that, in our family, we could be proud of.  Too proud to ever ask for help, too proud to ever speak of emotions, too proud to ever admit that we may be in pain.  Why on earth would you be proud of that?  My ride with pride began so incredibly young, perhaps a survival response, but a resolve to never cry, to not let people in, and to be tough.  And I was.  At least on the outside! 

Leaving home at seventeen with a determination to be independent, self-sufficient, and unconstrained.  To not let anyone in.  My head held so high, pride in my every step, I didn’t see all the potholes, and oh I stumbled so many times!  So many bad decisions.  What’s that scripture?  “𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍.” (Prov 16:18)  And fall I did, simply because I had to do it my way instead of God’s way.

God’s grace is so incredibly amazing, song after song has been written about it, we all know that we need it, desperately.  But God’s word tells us that He gives more grace to the humble than to the proud.  “𝑶𝒓 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒏, “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒖𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒋𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚”? 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑯𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔: “𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅, 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆.”  (James 4:5-6) He gives more grace!  My heart longs for rivers of grace to swim in, waterfalls of grace that splash over my head, soaking me in rich, glorious, amazing grace.  Did you see how the Spirit is yearning for us jealously?  He yearns for you!  But how do we get there – how do we become those humble, gentle, content women that the Spirit yearns for?

The absolute truth is this is incredibly easy, our Beloved makes things simple for us and I love that.  I need simple!  1 Peter 5:6-7 says; “𝑯𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.  𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”  If we will take the time to give Him all our anxiety, all our cares, all our worries He will pour out His grace over us in abundance.  We will become like the Shulamite who Lets Him in, has a yielded heart longing for the yearning of her Lover.  Those cares spoken about in this verse are ‘𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘯𝘢’ in the Greek also meaning ‘𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥.’  When we don’t cast our anxiety upon our Savior we are drawn in every different direction, drawn away from our LORD.  Distracted and unfocused.  Not lifting our face in anticipation of letting the one that we love kiss us.  Lift us up.  Take care of us.  Keep us safe.  Let’s simply come before our Beloved, humble ourselves, and give Him every worry, every concern that churns in our guts drawing us away from Him.  Let’s ‘Let Him’ take those burdens, those anguished thoughts and instead give us more grace.  What a glorious exchange!  What a fantastic deal!

Today I’m going to take those first two words from our Shulamite and ‘Let Him,’ I’m going to yield to His strong, graceful hands and Let Him into every area of my life.  I’m going to say 𝗬𝗘𝗦 to intimacy and 𝗡𝗢 to pride, shame, and fear!  Will you come with me?  I so hope you will!

Then there is that shame.  Wrapped around me like poison ivy.  Sticking, stinging, spreading.  Growing invasively into every little corner of my life and crowding out every good thing my Beloved is whispering.  So invasive!  This is one that needs to be dragged out by the root leaving not even the tiniest piece in place!  Shame, as with Adam and Eve hiding their nakedness with leaves in the garden, makes us want to run and hide.  We can hide behind Netflix, a sarcastic tongue, Facebook, Tik Tok, our phone!  Food, exercise, work, our computer.  Anything to avoid coming face to face with our Beloved and looking into His eyes lest He discovers our shame!

But we know; “𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅.” (Is 53:5)  This includes every single little poisonous leaf of shame!!!  Forgive me Father.  So complete was His work on the cross that shame was pulled up by the roots and cast as far as the East is from the West! (Psalm 103:12.)  Job 14:15-17 has to be one of my favorite verses when it comes to dealing with shame; “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔. 𝑴𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕.” 

Your Beloved yearns for you because you are indeed His handiwork.  He is not waiting for you to sin so that He can jump on you with punishment but guarding your every step. His adoration and love for you is so perfect that he has sealed up your sin in a bag that can never again be opened and has covered all your guilt.  And it didn’t end there!  He cast those sins, sealed in that bag, as far as the East is from the West! Let Him in dear one, Let Him uproot that shame that has poisoned your love story, Let Him cast that shame away from you and instead come and hide under the shadow of your Bridegroom’s wing, (Ps 17:8) safe and secure in His loving care.  𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝗺.

“𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆.”  Song of Songs 1:1

I could be stuck here for days – 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝗺.  𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝗺. Allow those two words flood over you for just a moment.  𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝗺.  What do you think of when you hear those two words?  What do you see?  Our love story begins with two very profound words, 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝗺.  A yielded heart.  Complete submission.  Absolute surrender. The very way into intimacy with the King is to ‘Let Him!’  Let Him into your heart.  Let Him into your life.  Let Him into all those tender, broken places.  Allow Him into those raw and sensitive areas where you said you would never go again.  It is there, when you Let Him, that His love will wash over you like healing waters, restoring your soul.  Restoring those emotions that have been locked up for a lifetime. 

Sometimes it is pain that stops you from allowing the Savior in and sometimes pride.  For so many years I told myself that I was strong, I was tough, I could take it and yes, like Frank Sinatra, “I could do it 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆!”  Perhaps, it was the pain that prevented me from letting God into all those achy places but there was also an independent spirit.  It took me a long time to realize that when you are independent you cannot be loved, independent means you want to be on your own. I don’t want that.  I want intimacy, I want to be totally dependent on my Beloved.  Knowing that He knows the right way, the best paths, how to make me feel secure and cherished. 

Often, I sit and wonder why I don’t ‘𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝗺’ into all those places, why I don’t draw near enough to my Bridegroom to allow Him in.  Is it perhaps fear that He will want me to do something that I don’t want to?  Possibly.  Perhaps shame is still sticking to me like slime from a slug that won’t wash off?  Definitely.  And sometimes perhaps it is just straight, plain, old-fashioned pride, that independent spirit that I can’t quite seem to lose?  Sadly!   When I look at those reasons written plain on the page, I know that the first two are the easiest to deal with, but that pride thing?  That stinks!

When fear comes at me, and I am afraid of what the LORD will ask me to do, it shows me that I don’t know the character of my Beloved well enough.  My Beloved is good, He is kind, He is faithful, longsuffering, He keeps no record of wrongs! My Beloved always protects me, He is not easily angered, and He is Oh, so patient, persevering until the end! (1 Cor 13) 

When I read the words in 1 John 4:18; “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.”  I know that God’s love is perfect and there is no fear in love!  So why am I afraid that my Glorious LORD will ask me to do something that will do me harm?  The answer is right there in that same verse, fear involves punishment. When we don’t understand God’s perfect love, we remember love through jaded eyes.  Through the eyes of that little girl who knew that if she stepped out of line, even a little, there would be great wrath and frightening punishment.  The little girl who only knew unkind and angry words while longing for the perfect love of a Father. 

That kind of love is only found in our Abba Father – perfect love.  Love that won’t come down on you when you fail but is always proud that you tried.  Love that won’t lash out on a whim because his day was bad, but always, always, looks at you with love in His eyes and a smile on His face.  Always.  Perfect love.  A love that will not punish you.  A love that you don’t need to be afraid of!  Always.  Now I understand His love, I can Let Him in, with the knowledge that whatever my Beloved asks of me will be wrapped up in a bow of precious, perfect love and is the very best thing for me!

I love how Shulamite – in Hebrew, means ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵’ or ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭.’  There is a place of perfect peace knowing that our Beloved loves us completely.  A place where we can simply trust, no matter what life throws at us there is that one constant, and it’s Him, our Bridegroom, our Jesus.  In fact, Shulamite can also mean ‘𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦.’  A contract, a pledge, and a promise that the Great I Am makes with you.  A covenant to bring you peace and not distress, reconciliation and not discord, love and not hate.  His word says, “𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑴𝒚 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑴𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅,” 𝑺𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”  (Isaiah 54:10) I will have mercy on you and my kindness shall NEVER be removed from you!  What a beautiful promise. 

Shulamite also means ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥.’  This love relationship with your Bridegroom will restore you, you will be made whole again, in Jesus you have found your safe place!  When your Beloved looks at you, He considers you perfect – of course He does, He made you that way!  He is the Artist, and you are His canvas, He is painting a Rembrandt, a Renoir, each stroke absolute genius!  You are His Masterpiece!

I want to be that Shulamite and be wholly restored, completely made new, entirely redeemed!  It comes back to that knowing that I know that I know that I can trust my Beloved, that I am safe with my Beloved.  I want the hallmark of my life to be one of peace, one where people will say she really loved her Jesus!

𝗦𝗼, 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆, 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀!

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆?

Well, that’s a good question isn’t it!  Sometimes we throw about words with no frame of reference, without ever taking a deep look at what they mean.  Why would I want to be a Shulamite – sounds kind of sketchy or dangerous?

Just the very title of this book says it all – the Song of Songs.  Written by a King – King Solomon, a man who was wise, a man of great stature, wealthy, and loved by all Israel.  1 Kings 4:32 tells us that “𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆.”  But this, the Song of Songs, was the greatest of all those songs, the song above any other song, the greatest of all love stories.  A tale that sings of love, desire, adoration, and affection.  It’s a story of romance, brimming with intimacy – the kind of intimacy where trust and respect abound and expectation peeks around every corner!

Our beautiful young heroine, the Shulamite.  Young, expectant, forthright, and assertive, knowing what she wants and not afraid to grasp hold of love with both hands.  A woman deeply enamored and taken with her betrothed, whose only desire is to be with her bridegroom, wrapped in his embrace.  She longs for his touch, longs for her Beloved to whisper words of adoration in her ear, wants to be so close to him that they are touching all the time.  All she needs to do is reach out and he is there.  He is that close.

That’s what I want, I want to hear the whispers of my Savior, to feel Him cup my chin in His hand and lift my head. (Psalm 3:3) To get lost in His eyes, His gaze, His love.  To be able to close my eyes and reach out knowing that He is right there.  All the time.  I want to draw close to Him and be able to trust that He will draw even closer to me. (James 4:8) I want to sit on a bench in the park right next to my Jesus and for there to be no space at all between us!  Is that what you want too?

All the very best fairy tales start with 𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲, as soon as you read those first few words you know that this is going to be a book you won’t want to put down.  When I was a child I loved fairy tales, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and oh, Rapunzel – that was my absolute favorite with her long blond silken hair!  Even now there is nothing quite like curling up on a couch with a hot chocolate and a good book.    Of course, there is a familiar, comforting, theme that weaves in and out of each fairytale:  A kind, beautiful girl finds herself in an overwhelming situation, sometimes with an unkind stepmother, abusive stepsisters, perhaps kidnapped by an evil witch.  Take Beautiful Belle, taken captive in the castle of a hideous beast, or Snow White who ran from an evil queen determined to kill her, living with seven dwarfs – one called Grumpy!  But of course, there is always the prince.  The handsome prince who falls in love with our beautiful girl, saves her from unimaginable horrors and true love wins out – together they live 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿.

Of course, fairy tales are fairy tales, and we know that just isn’t real life – or is it?  One thing I do know is that with Jesus, the last sentence in each of our stories is the same one in that fairy tale – 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿!  Perhaps our lives are a little more like those fairy tales than we think.  I don’t know each of your stories, but I know this, that every one of you reading this book is beautiful, made in the image of your Creator, fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) I know too that there have been many dark times in your life, times when you have been treated badly, when the words spoken against you have caused you pain.  Times of extreme hardship, anxiety, and brokenness.  The desire within you is to be saved by that handsome prince and to live a life of intimacy and happiness with the love of your life. 

The love of your life is Jesus, it is in Him that we can have that 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿, only with Him.  His Word promises us an eternity with our Savior, it tells us the story of how we are the bride and He, Jesus, is our bridegroom.  In fact, woven through every single book of the bible, like golden thread, is a love story.  The deep longing from the very heart of God cries out, “𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕.” (Matt 11:28) “𝑨𝒃𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (John 15:4) “𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏.” (Ps 46:1-3)

For the next few days, we are going to take a look at the Shulamite woman in the Song of Solomon, how we can run into the secret place with the love of our lives and hear His heartbeat, His thoughts – take a journey with me!

When I am weary, heavy-laden, broken-hearted, or just plain sad the last thing I feel like doing is rejoicing in the LORD! You want me to do what God? 𝗥𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀? (𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹 𝟰:𝟰) 𝗧𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀? (𝟭 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝟱:𝟭𝟲-𝟭𝟴) 𝗧𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘆? (𝗣𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝟯𝟮:𝟭𝟭)

But over and over and over again, throughout God’s Word, we are called upon to rejoice. 𝟭𝟴𝟳 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁! (KJV). Our Abba Father knows that even if we don’t feel like it, once we begin to rejoice in Him, praise Him, and dance before Him everything will change. We will have a new perspective!

Psalm 89: 15 and 16 says: “𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.” They rejoice all day long!

How do we rejoice? Rejoice in Hebrew in this particular verse means to jump for joy, to spin around, dance, exalt, and be excited! Honestly, I’m smiling as I read this imagining the dance party that could change your life! If you are feeling down, sad, or broken today I invite you to put on that praise music and begin to dance, to jump, to leap for joy! Be undignified like David!

In Zephaniah 3:17 God’s Word tells us, “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒔𝒕, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝑶𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆; 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈.” Did you see that!!! Oh, that’s so exciting. God rejoices over you and it’s that same word, “gil.”

Your Father God rejoices over you, He dances over you, He spins around joyfully over you. Over you! Because of you! That’s how extreme and lavish His love is for you. And so I ask – how extreme is your love for your LORD? Enough that in your pain and your sadness you can get up and dance before Him? I’m not saying it’s not hard, because it is, but I’m saying it’s worth a try. It’s totally worth doing what God’s Word says as we know it to be true!

Today I pray that you will sense the LORD dancing over you, singing over you and that joy would rise up within you and you would begin to ‘𝗿𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲’ 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗶𝗺!

An unlit candle by itself in a dark room is unseen, simply a jar of wax in the thick darkness. But when a flame is touched to the wick that candle begins to shine! The darkness has to flee, light shines all around, and the room is filled with a beautiful scent.

You see, 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 – that is what it was created for. And so are you, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲! When the glory of the LORD touches your life there is no place for darkness, it has to go, as your light shines the shadows disappear, and oh, what a sweet-smelling fragrance fills the room and rises as incense to the LORD.

So today, I say to you, ARISE and SHINE, it’s time, because indeed the glory of the LORD has risen upon you!

“𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆; 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆! 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” Isaiah 60:1

𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱?!

Even when you’ve read a scripture a hundred times God still has something new to share. When I read that first verse of Psalm 23 and looked up the Hebrew I was overwhelmed and brought to tears. The word for Shepherd in the Hebrew is “ra’ah” and besides meaning what we think it does, someone who takes care of the sheep, it also means 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻.

The LORD is my friend, my constant companion, I shall not want. What a concept! Truly it is something I almost cannot grasp, the LORD is my friend – just as he was a friend to Moses. In fact, Exodus 33:11 tells us that “𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅.”

The same root word is used. Just as the LORD was a friend to Moses, so is Yahweh, our Savior, a friend to you! Your constant companion!