This blog is part two of my entries about vulnerability. For part one, click here.
The only logical way to end a week in Greece where your Heavenly Father has shown you the joy of being His daughter is to buy cotton candy that is bigger than your head.
The story in Mark continues with Jesus’ response to the woman.
“He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’”
Daughter.
I grew up in the church and have always known that God is my Heavenly Father. I still remember how I ended many nighttime prayers as a little girl. I would ask Him to tuck me in for the night, to wrap His arms of love around me. My faith as a child allowed me to literally feel His arms embracing me. No prayer was too big or too small. As my Daddy in Heaven, He wanted to hear all of it. As I grew older, I lost that childlike view of faith. I still had joy, but I had forgotten how to rejoice in being His little girl.
Our team spent a week of our second month of the Race in Greece. The ministry was wonderful, the scenery breathtaking, but my favorite part of the week was what God did in my heart. One of the first things that we did as a squad upon arriving in Greece was to have a time of corporate worship. The night was started with prayer. One phrase became the key to my heart being fully opened to all that God had for me that night. “God, let us be like kids in Your presence.”
We sang songs that my heart knows and has loved for years, but that night my heart heard those words in a new way–as my Heavenly Father’s heart exploded with love for His daughter, His little girl–me. Over the past few years, God’s biggest lesson to my heart has been how He sees me, firmly establishing my identity in Him and Him alone. Above all of the other names and identities that I know, have known, or will know in this life, there is one higher than all others. I am a daughter of the King of Kings.
I have no reason, as a daughter of God, to fear trusting my Heavenly Father. I do not have to be afraid of being fully vulnerable with Him. I do not have to be embarrassed or ashamed. He has never expected me to be perfect and knows all of my shortcomings. A father’s heart is a safe place for a little girl. For too long, my heart forgot about the safety of His loving heart and found its safety in itself. Trusting Him as a father is trusting Him enough to allow hurts to come into your life, knowing that no hurt is too deep for Him to comfort, heal, and restore. God calls me to trust Him with my wounded heart so that He can set me free from my sufferings, to transform my heart into the carefree, trusting heart of a child.
Jesus called the woman “Daughter” because He saw her for who she was. He did not define her by her sickness, her shame, her uncleanness. He called her by her true name. The same is true for me, and the same is true for you. Jesus does not define us by our sickness, our shame, our uncleanness or our sins. He calls us by our true names when we tell Him the whole truth of our hearts.
Your faith in who I have called you to be has brought healing to you, to the deepest places in your heart that were wounded. Now that you know who you are, let My peace be your confidence, strength, and source of joy. Be freed from your suffering–your struggles, doubts, fears, rejections, and wounds. They no longer define you or are a source of shame for you, no matter if they are big or small, shallow or deep. You are not held back by their limitations. Who I have called you to be is your source of freedom. Your identity in Me is what sets you free from your chains, your shame, your past, your imperfections. I have chosen you and called you. I have adopted you into my family. I will not leave you or forsake you. You are not an outcast. You are good enough. You are seen and loved. You can stand fully and confidently. Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.
