The Reading Meeting: Captivating. Chapter 2

jan 19

“What Eve Alone Can Tell”

It is week two of The Reading Meeting!

Here are a few questions to think through from The Guided Journal:

♥ “The desire of a woman’s heart and the realities of a woman’s life seem an ocean apart. Oh, we long for romance and an irreplaceable role in a great story; we long for beauty. But that’s not the life we have. The result is a sense of shame.”

Is this true of you?

♥ A woman’s struggle with her sense of worth points to something glorious she was designed to be. The great emptiness we feel points to the great place we were created for. Have you ever thought of your struggles and longings as pointing to something you were designed to be?

♥ Most women define themselves in terms of their relationships, and the quality they deem those relationships to have. I am a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend. Or, I am alone. I’m not seeing anyone right now, or my children aren’t calling, or my friends seem distant. This is not a weakness in women–it is a glory. A glory that reflects the heart of God.

How do you define yourself?

♥ God endows Woman with certain qualities which are essential to relationship, qualities that speak of God. She is inviting. She is vulnerable. She is tender. She embodies mercy. She is also fierce and fiercely devoted. As the old saying goes, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” That’s just how God acts when he isn’t chosen. “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god!” (Ex. 20:5) A woman’s righteous jealousy speaks of the jealousy of God for us. Tender and inviting, intimate and alluring, fiercely devoted. O yes, our God has a passionate, romantic heart. Just look at Eve.

How are you doing on these qualities these days? How have you been–or perhaps not been…

Inviting? Vulnerable? Tender? Merciful? Fiercely devoted? Jealous?(!)

♥ God creates Eve to keep relationship at the center of life. It’s central to a woman’s design–and her reason for being. Do you feel like you’ve been keeping relationship a high priority? What would you want to do to make it more central to your life–and the lives of those you love?

♥ What did you like/dislike or have a hard time believing about this chapter?

Like always, I will be leaving my own commentary in the comment section.