Through the lens of Woman
The bronze serpent — looking and living
There are women who believe the venom is their fault.
The wound from a bad relationship. The shame from something done to them. The trauma from a season they didn’t choose. The bite of a culture that has poisoned them with comparison or expectation or violence or neglect. They have been told the bite is theirs to manage alone.
Numbers 21 says no. The Israelites who were bitten didn’t go to a counselor. They didn’t try to extract the venom. They didn’t blame themselves for being too weak. They looked.
The cross is for women who have been bitten. Bites that were yours and bites that were done to you. Christ has been lifted up for both.
The healing is not earned. It is not deserved. It is not contingent on you having handled the bite well. It is by gaze.
One small thing today: in a place where you have been carrying the weight of a venom that was either yours or done to you, look. Picture Christ on the cross. Say to Him out loud, I bring this to You. Trust that the venom has met its match.