I have a little pillow I use under my neck at night, and it says, “Put on your Big Girl Panties and deal with it.” Sometimes this reminder is one I would like to toss across the room, just like I would the pillow. It’s a double entendre for me.
Because sometimes I just want to stomp my feet and throw a hissy fit worthy of applause from Ouiser Boudreaux. Sometimes I want to just fall backwards onto the floor (padded with Big Girl Panties, pillows and soft blankets, of course) and just have a big ol’ dramatic cry. But to quote the lady interviewed years ago on television, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”
Believe me, I think about it every once in a while.
We all have to do things we do not like/enjoy at one time or another; sometimes, more often than we would like, but we do them. Hopefully, we do them with not just a smile but with a feeling of blessed joy.
Can I pull you aside for a second and ask you a quick question? Growing up, I heard this word read as, “Blehs-sid.” Two syllables. Did you hear it that way, too? When I moved to Florida, my pastor read it as one syllable, “Blessed.” I cannot tell you how much time I have spent pondering the pronunciation of this word when I read it in scripture. When we wear a t-shirt or have a dish towel or something in our house with the word, we read it as, “Blessed.” One syllable. We feel, “blessed.” But when I was growing up hearing messages about The Beatitudes, it was a two-syllable word. “Blehs-sid.”
I have to think there is some type of correlation between the way I hear the word and the way I view the meaning. When I read and hear it as two syllables, it is almost an unattainable feeling, because I do not feel “bleh-sid” when I am poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and so on. Yet when I read and hear it as one syllable, I am comforted greatly by The Holy Spirit, and it feels attainable.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” - Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV)
Let me tell you, there’s an awful lot of beauty in the fifth chapter of Matthew. Goodness gracious, I know you and I were not there for the Sermon on the Mount, but Jesus was speaking directly to us. Because of my stubborn, dramatic, hissy fit throwing mindset at times, I need the grace and mercy Jesus told us about throughout Matthew 5.
I don’t know if you are like me, but when someone insults me, it’s personal. When they persecute me, I do not feel warm and fuzzy. Persecute literally means: subject someone to hostility and ill-treatment. Synonyms are: oppress, abuse, victimize, ill-treat, mistreat, maltreat … you get the picture. When someone lies about me (falsely says all kinds of evil against), I just don’t feel blessed. But when I go back and read the words I have underlined and highlighted in my Bible, and read the notes in my margin, I can picture myself in the crowd that day when Jesus spoke those words. When I imagine Him speaking directly to me, suddenly, I put on my Big Girl Panties, and I don’t feel like a victim.
I feel like His chosen girl. I feel like His beloved. Knowing we are His gives me a supernatural strength to do what He commanded us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” - Matthew 5:43-44 (NIV)
Only the grace, power, love, strength and mercy from Jesus could allow my stubborn heart to pray for the people who are hateful to me and lie about me. There is just something so incredibly beautiful about Jesus’ never ending love. It empowers me to put on my Blessed Big Girl Panties, and deal with it.