Imagine with me a majestic horse galloping across an open field. Her mane is flowing, her muscles rippling and she is a sight of pure beauty as she operates within her element.
Now imagine that same horse swimming in the ocean. She looks panicked and clumsy. Her mane is wet and sticking to her as she fights to survive in a hostile environment for which she was not built.
What happened? She saw a dolphin swimming and decided she wasn’t happy where she was. It wasn’t fair she was stuck on dry land when another of God’s creatures was slicing through the waves, weightless and free. She decided she would throw off her land life, head for the water, and become what she wanted to be; not what she was created to be.
What would happen to her eventually if she didn’t get back to land? She would die of course. She wasn’t created for the sea, she was created for the terra firma; solid ground.
We will never see the above scenario happen. Why? Because animals naturally obey their Creator. When they don’t, we know something is wrong.
Not so in the human world. We have a choice. We can let God define who we are, or we can ignore Him and do what feels right to us. There is only one problem with that way of thinking.
There is a way that seems right to a man (or woman), but its end is the way to death.
Proverbs 14:12
I believe that’s what this generation has done. We have let the culture define who we are. Our sons, daughters, husbands, and our psyches are feeling wild-eyed panic and anxiety as we try to keep our heads above water in an environment for which we were never built.
God created everything with a distinct purpose. When women discover and live out that purpose they find the most adventurous life worth living…ever. But when women choose to ignore that distinct purpose they lose the beauty and peace of their existence.
Does anyone set out to ruin their marriage, children, and future generations? Of course not. The lure away from our high calling as a wife, mother, and helper felt like the water to the horse. It was empowering, exciting, and felt so free.
However, something deadly happens when the one appointed and anointed by God to care for her husband, children, and be a heart in a heartless world decides to throw off her feminine yoke.
Being a helper is who we are in our DNA (even if we are single). Our men, our children, our friends, and our co-workers desperately need our help. Our mission field is large. Not only in our homes but in every place we set our feet. The world is not complete without our influence. Helper is one of my favorite words and here’s why.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
John 16:7
Helper means, “called to one’s aid; an advocate; intercessor; a consoler; comforter.”
I don’t know about you, but I like all those words. They describe my God and they describe what I strive to be. If you need help, I’m your girl. If you need a shoulder to cry on, I will cry with you. I’ll tell you the truth, but it will be with love. I will let you be a woman.
When my grandson injures himself, no one will do but his mommy. She is his comforter and consoler. It’s so precious. Humans (male and female) need our tenderness. Since God’s Spirit is also called, “The Comforter,” we can all rest assured it’s a need. We are called sheep, not bears, for a reason.
Women have opportunities today that no one thought possible, yet anxiety is at an all time high. Women are twice as likely as men to be on anti-anxiety drugs.
Why are we so anxious? Many of us are trying hard to be what men are called to be and it doesn’t fit us. We think we have to toughen up and deny our femininity to survive. When we do, I promise you, anxiety will reign.
There is nothing more unattractive than a hard-nosed, double-tough woman who is climbing a corporate ladder. Climb the ladder all you want, just do it as a woman. Not a woman trying to act like a man. No one wants to be around someone like that.
That is the last thing God had in mind when He brought Eve to Adam to bless him and compliment him. God said it was not good for him to be alone. He needed a helper suitable for him. Suitable means counterpart.
Counterpart-a thing that fits another perfectly; something that completes.
We don’t compete with our man, we complete our man. He made us softer than him, both physically and emotionally. Don’t get me wrong. We can handle a lot of stress and do much more than a man in many ways…in our element. We were created to nurture and comfort. Men were created to protect and provide. They thrive when they are needed in that way. We thrive when we are needed emotionally.
When a woman embraces who God created her to be, she flourishes.
She is fruitful and everyone around her is nourished by what she produces. She doesn’t have to try to make a name for herself or strive to be great. God will exalt this woman. Her roots will go deep and her branches will be strong. We don’t see many of these women in today’s culture, but I believe she will rise again.
“…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”
Hosea 4:6
When we find out what God says about us, something inside starts to stir. We can’t explain it, but it feels right. When we actually put it into practice, the anxiety starts to subside. We start to feel natural. We start to feel “home.”
Women can be anything from the President of the United States to a stay-at-home mom. I am not saying we all need to stay barefoot and pregnant. I’m talking about something much deeper.
As much as we try, we cannot shake the image of God.
He has given us attributes of Himself. Both male and female were made in His image. That means we are equal but different. A man is a display of certain attributes of God’s nature, and a woman is a display of different attributes of God’s nature.
When we walk in those attributes, we are the most beautiful creatures on the planet. A woman who is filled with the Presence of God and walks with Him is a rare treasure whether single or married.
If she is married, her entire family is shaped by her.
“Her husband is respected at the city gate (Proverbs 31:23) and her children rise up and call her blessed.” (Proverbs 31:28). She makes her family great and word spreads about her.
If she is single, wherever she places her foot, becomes holy ground.
The office where she works, the business she owns, the church she attends will rise up and call themselves blessed because she is there. She is free from duties at home and is available to build God’s Kingdom with a single focus. Being single is never an inferior position. A single woman will often have many more spiritual children than a married woman.
Madame Jeanne Guyon’s life and writings had a tremendous influence on both Watchmen Nee and Hudson Taylor. They read her little book called, “Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ,” and they learned how to walk in intimacy with God. I have read it nine times (I think). Those two men are one of the reasons China has an underground church unparalleled today.
She spent seven years in prison because of that book. She penned this poem while in that wretched place. Here is an excerpt.
A little bird I am,
Shut from the fields of air;
And in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there;
Well pleased a prisoner to be
Because, my God, it pleases Thee.
Oh, it is good to soar,
These bolts and bars above,
To him whose purpose I adore,
Whose providence I love;
And in thy mighty will to find
The joy, the freedom of the mind.
Jealous church officials put her there on trumped up charges but they could not harden her heart. She walked in joy and freedom as she lived as a woman. All the threats never stopped her. She remained feminine and fearless.
Anna is called a prophetess in the Bible. That means God shared His mind with her, and she shared His mind with the people. She was single, married, and then widowed. She embraced widowhood and didn’t find her identity in another man. She gave herself completely to God.
By the time Jesus was born, she was eighty-four years old and actually lived at the temple. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus there, she knew who He was and began to prophesy about him to everyone around. Her voice carried authority and people listened.
When we have a baby, we can’t wait to show it to our closest friends. I believe Anna was a close friend of God and He couldn’t wait to show her His Son. I guarantee she was famous in Jerusalem.
God notices when a woman pours her life out for Him, her family, and all those around her. When we fulfill our purpose, it touches the heart of God. Women are the greatest evangelists in the world. We lead little souls to God every single day as we let Him flow through us.
We are the biggest influencer in our husband’s life. Scripture says our lives will win over a husband who does not believe the Word of God. He will see the way we live and want our God.
Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
1 Peter 3:1-2
The kindness and gentleness of a God-filled woman is one the most beautiful and powerful forces on the planet.
Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.
Proverbs 25:15
The Bible condemns loud and bossy women. I know that’s not politically correct and I don’t care. I’ve lived both ways. I was a loud, obnoxious, and self-centered woman. I shudder to think where I would be today without surrender to God. I look at my home, my husband, and my children and I want to fall on my face in worship of this great God.
Let God be true, and every human being a liar.
Romans 3:4
I am not ashamed of what God says we are to be. His Word is wisdom beyond our wildest dreams. We can scoff at it, disobey it, and take all the drugs we want to cope with life. God is a gentleman and will allow us to do that very thing.
Or, we can lead people all around us to God when they come in contact with us.
When we aren’t us, the world lacks a heart.
James Brown said it best, “This is a man’s world, but it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman or a girl.”
One of the greatest men in the world was rescued and influenced by women. His name was Moses. In fear and paranoia, Pharoah ordered all the Hebrew baby boys to be thrown into the Nile. Moses’ mother, Jochebed, refused to do so. She hid him for three months. She then made a waterproof basket and placed him in the Nile. His sister, Miriam, stood and watched over him (I’m not sure where his brother or his dad were).
Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him.
Exodus 2:5-6
Pharoah’s daughter was raised by a ruthless man but he couldn’t take away the helper heart beating in her chest. It outweighed everything else.
The risk of defying Pharoah was tremendous. However, it didn’t stop the Hebrew midwives (who refused to kill the male babies), Jochebed, Miriam, the female slave, and Pharoah’s daughter. When we operate in our element we are bold, brave, and not afraid to take a risk.
When Jesus was raised from the dead, the women were at the tomb. When Jesus showed up Mary was crying (another thing we do).
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
John 20:15
The men were hiding out in fear, but the women were only thinking of how to help Jesus, even though He was dead (or so they thought).
Don’t deny your helper heart. Don’t let this world and culture harden you up. Give your heart to God (it’s safe there), and then let Him take it and touch everyone around you.
