A dream… Jesus… three women of faith.

[Photo Cred: DreamsTime]

[The following paragraph is a paraphrase from “Streams in the Desert” by L.B. Cowman; updated by James Reimann.]

A woman dreamt that she saw three women kneeling in prayer and Jesus appeared. He approached the first woman, laid His hand upon her and gave her a loving glance and kind words. For the second woman, He placed His hand upon her shoulder and gave her His look of approval. As He approached the third woman, He barely looked her way and kept on walking. The woman who had the dream was saddened and perplexed. “What could that third woman possibly have done for Jesus to walk right past her and not acknowledge her at all?” Jesus appeared to her and explained, “The first woman believes in Me, but she’s uncertain, not deeply rooted in her faith and she needs My loving hand upon her and my kind words of affirmation. The second woman has a stronger faith, has committed to following Me and shares her faith. The third woman has fully surrendered to My will and ways. She never wavers, never falters in her faith, and trusts me fully.” (Of note, when I mentioned above that this is a “paraphrase”, it truly is as I’m writing this from memory, but the message is the same.) I also dropped this on my podcast – here is the LINK if you’d like to check it out.

I’ve definitely been Woman number one; especially in the very beginning of my faith walk. I believed, I was saved, I was baptized, but I still “didn’t know, what I didn’t know”, or fully understand what it meant to surrender. For most of my journey, I’ve remained steadfast, comparatively like Woman number two, my roots continually growing deeply in my faith. I’d drop my “stuff” at the foot of the cross, but sometimes I’d make my way back with a tote bag and “take back” some of the small stuff… the things that I thought I could handle on my own, that I didn’t want to “bother” Him with. Ultimately, I couldn’t even handle the small stuff, so I’d trudge back to the foot of the cross and overturn my tote bag, giving it all back to Him.

Ah… Woman number three! How I WANT to be HER! But truth to tell, I think I’d still like Jesus’ loving glance of approval (ego, I guess). But when I imagine being so fully surrendered and obedient, I sometimes feel “unworthy”. I’ve struggled with “unworthiness” for a good part of my life, going back to my adolescence and early adulthood. When I was in high school, I was somewhere in the “middle”. I wasn’t one of the popular girls, nor was I an athletic girl… just someone in the middle who showed up, made a couple of close friends, figuring that’s all I deserved. But when I became a Christian, I believed that I was worthy of Jesus’ love. That as a Daughter of the King and having been saved by the blood of Christ on the cross, I was worthy. Sometimes. Not all the time. But probably most of the time. My struggle with unworthiness ebbs and flows and no doubt this is what keeps me from moving on to be more like Woman number three. But that’s okay… I’m a work in progress!

Where are you in your faith walk? Which woman are you?

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.” ~Proverbs 31:30

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” ~Proverbs 31:25

~Let Love Lead the Way~

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