Someone needs to speak for those who cannot!

 

 I have no husband, to speak of, so I know what it's like to be misunderstood, misinterpreted, misnamed, dishonored and labeled or black-listed.  Rumor has it, I have been black-listed among the pastors of my small town.  How bad can a woman be who is black-listed among alleged men of the cloth?  I cannot tell you why, but I can tell you this, I know the Bible, front and back. Am I an expert? Heck no, but I know more than many.  I say this not to boast, actually, these days, if you are a woman who knows the Bible, you are not liked among men.  I didn't read it to become holy, I read it because I hurt, and hurt a lot. So, a woman who knows what the Bible says is  black-listed, because of sinful human pride, something that comes so naturally, we don't even know it's there.  

My first blog that I ever wrote was titled, "The Woman at the Well was no Ho!"  It goes on to explain how it is that we with 21st Century eyes have labeled what could have been a very a holy woman as a "whore."  That poor woman was not an immoral woman, she was set apart. Oddly enough, the actual definition of the word holy means to be set apart.  She was set apart to be the first missionary, and now, because of the misogyny bigotry of men,  she has a bad rap.  She was a holy woman.  She had  rough life.  She was married five times, and the man she is living with is not her husband, said Jesus.  Now, let me ask you, besides being described as  Samaritan woman, where in Scripture does it say that she was shacking up, sleeping around, spreading herself thinly among the men of the town? I will tell you where, NOWHERE! 

In order to understand the context, one must know the historical context. It was a patriarchal system back in those days, a woman could not live alone. A woman could not work, unless she was a harlot, the oldest profession.  Even those women weren't there voluntarily, no more than the ones of today.  They were forced into it, because either they were abandoned, or had no other way to make an income, because people did not hire women for anything back in those days. Maybe she had no male relative to take her in and care for her.  A woman could become a slave, or servant, if she could find someone to take her in as one. 

 She had five husbands, that doesn't mean she fooled around on them, that means she had five husbands. Back in the day, if a woman made a bad meal, a man could toss her out, and without a family of her own to take her in, her only option would be to become a concubine, find another husband, or become and indentured servant.  Also, the lifespan of a man was somewhere in the mid 40's or 50's.  She could have been widowed one or more times.  

Maybe she was dumped by five husbands, because she was barren. A barren woman in those days were shunned. They were shamed, second only to lepers. This woman could have been one who was taken in as a servant, by a man, thus she was living with a  man who was not her husband.  Maybe she was living with a brother or son-in-law, or a brother-in-law. Here's something else to really consider, no one knows how old this woman was. She could have been 85 years old for all we know. Maybe she was  too old, not of child-bearing years, or she had a reputation of being bad-luck for a man.  

A woman who had been widowed several times was considered a holy woman, believe it or not.  It was said of her that GOD had set her apart to be holy, to be His.  I get this, believe me, I get this.  I was set apart.  Set apart for what remains to be seen, but being set apart means being put through the fiery furnace of affliction for many years, even decades.  She was burned all right, and to this day, she is still being burned, as a woman who was immoral when GOD favored her.  My husband left me.  Does that make me an immoral woman? Let's not just assume things about people, because we can't see people through GOD's eyes, we have human eyes, flawed as they are. 

      So why do I think that she may have been set apart, a holy woman, not immoral? Simply by her conversation with Jesus. She knew Scripture.  She knew what to look for in the Messiah. She understood the significance of Jacob's well, and she knew the controversy between where the Samaritans worshiped and where the Jews worshiped.  She quoted Scripture.  Let me ask you, how many prostitutes do you know that can quote Scripture? Not too many.  

Last but not least, this woman was believable.  This woman was bold enough to bear witness to Jesus. Respectable men back then didn't follow prostitutes when they bore witness about a holy man or a prophet.  Would you follow a prostitute who came up to you in the town square and said, "Come and follow me, I have found the Messiah!"  I am going to gather that you would not.  Neither would I.  However, if a woman who knew Scripture, who was reputed to be set apart by GOD, said, "Come and see what the Messiah has to say," Would you follow that woman? If you were set apart, you'd go to where that woman pointed you. If you were a proud seminary-taught man, you would black-list her and call her a trouble-maker. This I do know, by experience.

So, please, let's cut this poor woman some slack and stop referring to her an immoral woman. She was GOD's chosen instrument to bear witness to the town of Samaria to the Christ, the first one to do so. That's an honor, not a reason to be black-listed as a "ho!"

 

 

WHEN GOD HANGS YOU OUT TO DRY

Back in the day, before glass bottles and wine cellars, wine was kept in wine skins, animal hides.   When the wine skin was empty, it usually was hung in a corner to dry out.  The wine skins at one point held happiness in it, but now it was emptied, all used up, no longer representing glad tidings.  So, it's left hanging in a corner, forgotten, useless to man.  It's best day is over, or is it? When is the last time you have felt as if you were useless wine skins, hanging in the corner with no one paying any attention to you, as if you did not exist anymore?  Maybe right now? Your heart used to be so filled with the love of Jesus, so much so, that it spilled over and you shared it by pouring into other people.

Eventually, having poured out all the love you had in your heart, with no one is filling it back up with reciprocal love, it becomes a dried out, emptied.  Those you poured all the wine of your heart all over, gladly received it, but none wanted to return it.  Some even abused you because of it. You brought gladness, now, you have no more to give. We are left to ourselves, so alone, so isolated that we even start to think that GOD has also abandoned us.  We did as we were told.  We gave when we weren't asked to give.  We loved those who did not love us, but GOD had commanded us to love.  We did not strike back when struck by those we gave love to, we just assumed, like GOD's Word says, "It is mine to avenge."  So, we sat back and  waited, and we waited, and waited, and then we waited some more.  Time passed, more time passed, so much time that we gave up any hope of getting love back from those whom we so freely gave.  Days, weeks, months and in some cases years go by; no vengeance, no change of heart.

Next step is the obvious, that we  must have got it wrong.  GOD didn't really tell us to give love to that person, it must have been the enemy of GOD.  He must have set a trap for us, knowing a fall was imminent.  Total confusion sets in. We can't seem to hear correctly from GOD.  We question everything we did for the last few years, until we come to the conclusion that our purpose, our dream, our goal was completely wrong, all this time. We just wasted six years doing what we thought GOD led us to do, and now we have no goal, no dream, no real purpose, and definitely are of no use in the Kingdom of GOD, because we can't discern GOD's instructions from the devil's traps.

Now we have two choices, bolt and turn away from GOD, or cower in the corner, hoping GOD will see our bruises and heal them. Bolting is not an option, because we know that there is no life outside of GOD.  We cower, we cry, we plead, we beg, so much so that our eyes sting and become so swollen it changes our appearance, not just for a few minutes, but for days at a time.  GOD still hasn't noticed or healed our bruises, and we are bewildered. Sometimes, even reading the Bible is like pouring salt on our wounds.  We've read all the promises. We’ve written them, memorized them, taken them to heart, but yet to have seen them fulfilled. Now, they are just words, words that actually hurt, now, because you waited and waited and waited.

You know every crevice and corner and every promise that reside in the safe places of those beloved pages. Still, after a while, those familiar words are just that, just words. They don't carry any weight, anymore, because you never saw them come to pass as you hoped.  Now, that hope which used to bring joy, now just brings pain, because that hope, you now realize only led to disappointment, night after night after pillow-soaking night.   

No healing comes. Now what? Stop breathing? That's not an option.  Stop living? That's not an option. Start hating back? That's not an option.  Ah, numb the pain with some authentic mind-numbing medicinal wine of our own.  That works, for a while, until GOD says, "That wasn't an option, either, so Stop!"  Getting angry at GOD didn't work, and you surely did shake your fist way too many times. Then guilt sets in, especially when someone lays that You-have-no-right-to-be-angry-at-GOD, guilt trip on you. 

With no warning, when you aren't expecting it, when you've decided in your mind to give up, walk away from everything and everyone, after you've erased all your social media and decided to accept your fate as is, hoping the few years you may have left will pass quickly, one moment in time, one thing leads to another, and suddenly, you just happen upon a sermon on You Tube, and you discover that there is a corner you missed.  Even though you have read that Bible from cover to cover several dozens of times, GOD still has a surprise for you. There is a corner you missed, a stanza, a plea from a psalmist who has just lived your life, and is dying inside just like you are, right now.  You're exhausted, and you think you've exhausted the Word of GOD, until you realize, refreshment is where you weren't looking. Psalm 119 and Psalm 88 both have what I call a “Job’s Princess life.”  It’s a life of sorrow from start to what we think will be finish.

That's all it took.  Someone, knows what you feel like. GOD made sure that someone made it into His Word, because of this day.  He was going to refresh you and refill your wine skin with new wine.  It's just enough to draw you back to His Word to find more corners you didn't know were there. Then you realize, GOD not only saw your bruises, but He felt them, and He was just waiting for you to stop doing that mind-numbing activity that blocked His work in your life, and you are back.  At least until the next time, and you know there will be a next time, but like this time, next time He will again, bring you to a corner in His Word you didn't know existed.  Each time you learn to trust more and more, until such a time that you are ready to help those other dried out wine skins who feel left abandoned in the corners of their lives.  I ran across this Psalm one day when I was feeling lost and so abandoned by everyone including GOD.  It blew my mind. I thought I knew all of Scripture, but GOD has a surprise up His sleeve. So, for those of you drowning in your ocean's amount of tears, this is for you. 

Psalm 88

May my prayer come before you;
    turn your ear to my cry.

³ I am overwhelmed with troubles
    and my life draws near to death.
⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am like one without strength.
⁵ I am set apart with the dead,
    like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
    who are cut off from your care.

⁶ You have put me in the lowest pit,
    in the darkest depths.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavily on me;
    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.^[d]
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
    and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
⁹     my eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, Lord, every day;
    I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
¹¹ Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness in Destruction^[e]?
¹² Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³ But I cry to you for help, Lord;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ Why, Lord, do you reject me
    and hide your face from me?

¹⁵ From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
    I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
¹⁶ Your wrath has swept over me;
    your terrors have destroyed me.
¹⁷ All day long they surround me like a flood;
    they have completely engulfed me.
¹⁸ You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
    darkness is my closest friend.