She is a queen.

A couple days ago I was walking from my office to the restroom when a kind Hispanic woman quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me over to her large group of guests and excitedly asked me to give them a tour of the YWAM campus. Being that I am a complete saint and totally adaptable- I eagerly rushed over to the group of guests, without giving another thought to the overwhelming number of emails, phone calls, and applications I needed to tend to in the office, and also forgetting all together that my bladder was about to burst thanks to the morning coffee, and I greeted them wholeheartedly.. grateful that she found me instead of the other 40 people that were on the campus that day. I am laughing as I type this, hoping that you will hear the sarcasm in my voice. (I am also being kind of dramatic because I imagine a normal person would not have struggled as much as I did in this brief moment.)

So actually I was obviously a bit reluctant in my heart as I approached the woman's friends, though I think by God's grace they were not aware of my selfishness. Just as the woman asked me, "Okay, will you tell us everything that goes on here on this YWAM campus?" I began to complain in my heart and wonder how on earth I was supposed to explain everything we do here.. oh poor me... Then I felt the sweet voice of the Lord in my mind say this, "She is a Queen." She is a Queen? She didn't look like a queen. She was quite beautiful but she did not look like a queen. But thanks only to the Holy Spirit my thoughts were shifting.. this woman is a Queen. Capital Q. Queen. She is a Queen to God and to her family.. who knows who else adores her as a Queen. But she was worthy of my energy, just as the Queen of England would receive it, and just as King Jesus would receive it if He wanted to know everything we do here at YWAM LA.

Obviously when you find out you are talking to a Queen everything changes. I genuinely and excitedly shared with the precious family what we are doing on the campus and I left feeling very encouraged by the whole thing. Its so strange though, because ever since then, whenever I see someone and am about to engage in relating or conversing with them, I hear again, "She is a Queen." or "He is a King." It does not matter who they are or what they look like... I am learning that they demand the same attention as Kings and Queens.

What else does that mean? It means I too demand the respect and adoration of a Queen. Would I ever approach the Queen of England and say, "Pardon me madame, you have big thighs, wrinkly skin, and you have no sense of style, oh and you are failing at most everything you do." No way, that would be absurd. So then I better not speak to myself that way either.

So that is the thought for the week I guess. You are a Queen. He is a King. We are worthy of love and affection. Give it generously, lavishly, extravagantly.

Matthew 25:31-40

New International Version (NIV)

The Sheep and the Goats

    ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.    ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’