Hey Woman! Have You Found Your “Strong”?
When I was a little girl, I was a Brownie and then graduated to become a Girl Scout. I loved hanging out with my friends, but I did not love sewing, cooking or selling cookies. I wanted to go camping and be in the woods like the boys.
When I was a little girl, I took ballet, tap, baton and jazz. I liked being with my friends, but I didn't like dance. I wanted to play soccer like my brother. So I quit, and because there was not a girl's team, I played soccer for the first time on a boys team not because I was trying to prove something, but because I loved soccer and there were no other teams.
When I was a little girl, I wanted to go deep sea fishing with my Dad and Grandpa, but I was never invited. I didn't know why until my sister went with them one morning, so I asked my Dad why I couldn't go. He said, "We didn't think you'd want to use the bathroom in a bucket." I was shocked that I'd missed out all these years because of this assumption.
When I was a young girl, I remember hearing these phrases: Don't throw like a girl. Don't be a sissy. When I was a teenager, I remember people told me: Don't scratch up your legs because you need to look good for a boy one day. The guy is your leader in a relationship. When I became a woman, I remember absorbing these ideologies: You need a man to lead you. Your life doesn't start until you marry.
So, I want to write this blog as a push back to all the unsound beliefs I absorbed as a young girl, teenager and even a woman. Woman, God did not design you to be second, but to be strong. In Genesis, when God made Adam, he saw that it was not good for him to be alone. When God says this, he is not referring to Adam's need to have a wife, but rather for him to have the company of another being like him since the only other beings on the earth were animals. Genesis 2:18 says, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him."
When I was a little girl, teenager and young women, this word helper felt unimportant. I wondered why God would give Adam so much significance, and the woman less? I felt like scripture was teaching that women were to find their significance in man. Little did I know my understanding was a demeaning version of the truth.
The word "helper" comes from a Hebrew word which God uses to describe His role in relation to Israel and is most often used when He is standing beside Israel in battle; giving them victory in war. It is literally translated "I will make a power [or strength] corresponding to man." "God calls the first woman ezer- a name that us used most frequently in the Old Testament for God himself. In a profound sense, God named his firstborn daughter after himself. God is Israel's ezer. For God's first female image bearers, ezer defines a way in which women are uniquely called to reflect God. Our father is an ezer and we are ezers too."
So, I want to ask you a question. Woman, have you found your strong yet? If you're anything like me, perhaps you've had a hard time finding it because of the messages you've absorbed about women in your lifetime. Maybe you haven't found it because you didn't know you were called to be strong; because you've been depending on someone else, perhaps a man to be your strength. So, I want to call out your strong today. Your strong doesn't come from inner confidence, someone's belief in you, or a man! Your strong comes from your Father, who made you to be just like him. You are a warrior, a strong tower and an indispensable pillar. Don't wait for someone else to make you feel strong or capable when that identity is supposed to flow from your Creator! He named you after himself. Your identity flows through Him and no one else.
Ladies, we are just touching the surface of this series of blogs for women. If you want to listen to more about this, you can listen to my Overcoming Monday Podcast. We are talking about all things women this season and I know you will LOVE IT!
I hope you are encouraged today and I hope I've given you something to move you forward in your faith until next time. Also, if you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you!!
© 2018 by Sharie King. All rights reserved.
