When I look you in the eyes…
I want to tell you that there is another way. There is another way to provide for yourself. To provide for your family. There is a Father who provides.
I want to tell you that I see you as a whole human. As more than a body to be used for pleasure. As a precious woman with a heart and a mind and a story.
I want to tell you that you are worthy. That you are worthy of dignity and respect and kindness. You are worthy of being treated with gentleness and honor and love.
I want to wrap you in a blanket, bring you to a safe place where nothing is expected of you, and sit with you. Wait for you. Give you food and water. Tell you my story. Listen to yours if you’re willing to share.
When I look you in the eyes, my heart shatters.
It shatters because in your eyes I see the shame that keeps you trapped. I see a spirit that yearns to come alive. I see a version of yourself that you keep protected beneath the version you put on display at work. It shatters because I once asked God to break my heart for what breaks his, and he keeps delivering.
When you look me in the eyes, I desperately hope and pray that you see God’s gentle, gracious, undying love looking back.
I hope you see freedom. I pray that you will know that same freedom can be yours.
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When I look you in the eyes…
I want to tell you to leave. To leave the women you’re buying. To leave the barstool you’re occupying. To leave Walking Street and never come back.
I want to tell you that you make me want to say things I wouldn’t dare say out loud. Thoughts I’m surprised my mind can even create.
I want to tell that it’s really hard for me to see you as a whole human. As more than an animalistic being who acts on impulse without thinking twice.
I want to tell you that I ask God to help me love you every day. I ask him to overflow my heart with grace. To convict me of misplaced anger. To filter my words through his Spirit living in me.
When I look you in the eyes, my stomach churns.
It churns because I see the lust that keeps you trapped. I see a spirit that yearns for intimacy and seeks it in all the wrong places. I see what the men I love would be if the God I love never entered their hearts and showed them freedom. It churns because I see something that Jesus took to the cross, to the grave…but here, in this place, in your eyes, I see it alive and thriving.
When you look me in the eyes, I desperately hope and pray that you see God’s jealous, redemptive, undying love looking back.
I hope you see freedom. I pray that you will know that same freedom can be yours.
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn
and provide for those who grieve in Zion –
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.
“For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make them an everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
Isaiah 61
