I deserve to be
pursued by a man. Women, you deserve to be pursued.
That’s the gospel.
Jesus came to earth, lived a life like you and I did, and died for us. He loves
us so much, he died for us. He pursues us daily. He seeks us out daily. He is first
to tell us we are beautiful. He is first to want our attention.
I was sitting in a circle with Ugandan youth (20 somethings)
today talking about ‘youthful’ things when the question was asked, “Is it okay
for a girl to ask a boy out, to tell him she likes him, to ask for his hand in
marriage?�
Instantly, something inside of me started burning. My heart
was about to burst, I raised my hand and started speaking words that the Holy
Spirit was saying. I actually forgot that someone needed to translate.
Before I tell you what I said, I need to explain something
to you about what God has been teaching me this past week.
I’ve always had a guy to talk to. Whether my family or
friends knew them or not, I was always talking to someone. I would text them
during the day, lay in bed at night and text them. Sometimes it wasn’t
something I initiated, but I would just let it happen. It wasn’t always someone
I was interested in; sometimes it was just a friend. But, it was always a guy.
I put my worth in that, how many guy friends I had, how many guys were talking
to me.
I’d go out of my way for a guy to notice me. I’d want anyone
to think I was cute, smart, had some secret past, or I was special in some way.
I would be so honest to tell them they are attractive or to tell them to ask me
out. I was so confident, but I wanted more attention. I yearned for a guy’s
attention, a guy to tell me I am beautiful and wanted. I’ve even done it on the
Race whether with guys I’m with or guys back home.
Now here I am seven months into the Race and God’s asking me
to flee, to run away from all of this. So, today when this question was asked
in that circle, God wasn’t just speaking through me to the women and men
around, but to my soul.
Again the question was, “Is it okay for women to pursue
men?� And here’s what God said:
Absolutely not! Women,
you are so beautiful. You deserve to be full heartedly, all out pursued. Jesus
pursues us daily. He loves us so much he died for us. We do not need to go out
of our way to make men look at us in any special way. Without saying a single
word, we deserve pursuit.
And then, another question was asked, this one was even
better. “But, what if the man is too shy, is it okay to share our feelings
then?�
Absolutely not!
Marriage is an unperfected example of the gospel. Jesus pursues us whole
heartedly, and so a man should do the same for women. We deserve to have a man
of integrity, a man who will honor us and guard our hearts. Women, if the men are too shy to tell you
how they feel about you, they are not men, they are just boys.
From there, the crowd went wild. The women cheered, Courtney
actually stood up and hollered, pastor pointed and amened.
And so, I want to tell all of you women, young and old,
reading this – you deserve pursuit. You do not need to go out of your way to be
seen. You do not need to change who you are, wear certain clothes, speak a
certain way, start conversations, laugh loudly, wear makeup, or do anything to
be pursued.
We did not do anything to earn favor with the Lord. He just
chose to love us despite our faults and despite us putting ourselves out there.
We do not need to be the first to chase a boy around, to
text him, to ask him to hang out. You are so much more worth it than that. You
deserve to be pursued.
