Month: February 2021

In times when so many are shouting for the rights of women and view connotations from the scripture as demeaning I find that what I gain from God’s description of the woman to be so much different. I see a role of perfection assigned to God’s finishing touch of creation. I see God’s smile as He places the woman in the Garden of Eden beside of man. I see a role established of walking along side the man in unity accomplishing that which the man was not created to do. I see a role of honor in being called to be a woman.

Woman became the being that was the final element of God’s work, she was given the greatest of all roles because through her all generations of life upon Earth would come to be. She was to walk beside the man as his “help meet”, there to be and do the things that man was not designed to do. It’s not a demeaning role, it’s an empowering role given to woman by God.

“And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Genesis 2:18

The idea is that the two working together possess the ability to fulfill the plan of God. Man was not created to fill the role of the woman and the woman was not created to fulfill the role of man. Each were designed and created specifically for the unique role that God established. Each as important and valuable as the other.

This whole idea that the role of woman is demeaning and lowly doesn’t line up with the Bible at all. Throughout the Bible the role of woman is held in high regard, in fact she is treasured.

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Proverbs 31:10-12

I find strength in embracing my God given right to be who I was created to be, a woman.

“Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” Proverbs 31:25

The all encompassing question as we go through the ever moving pages of the calendar, What is my purpose?Looking back upon yesterday or last week, the month or year that came and has now gone; what was my purpose, my intent? Have I accomplished anything that matters, did I fulfill the purpose for which I was born? Its a question that fills each of our minds from time-to-time.

It was my 50th birthday that really caught me in deep reflection of these questions. Questions that caused me to consider the importance of the days that add up to create the years that become the story of our lives. As I greeted that day, that moment of time in which I reached that number 50 in my story, I was asking where had the time gone. What did I have to show for those years, what filled the pages of my story? My husband actually turned my attention to the wall of pictures that lined our hall. The faces of my children, my grandchildren, family members that have come and those that have gone. Nothing that sat around my home, no artifact or painting became a semblance of my life, but the faces that I saw lining the hall, the face that were pieces of my life revealed the purpose for which I had been created. My purpose was within each of those relationships, each of the stories that came about because of the pages of my story.

Each day, I interact with others. Sometimes it is family, sometimes it is friends, but sometimes it is people that I may never see again. Within each of those interactions I have the opportunity to be used for a purpose, God’s purpose. The fulfillment of my purpose lies in how I respond to that single moment in time.

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” II Timothy 1:9

“According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:11

His purpose within each of our lives is an eternal purpose. What we do today may not seem that relevant, yet in the pages of eternity it has the ability to become a monumental day. Not all of our moments seem like those that will have such significance, but it becomes the overall affect of those moments linked together that establish the testimony that takes on eternal value in the lives of those we meet along the way. For His purpose we have been given the riches of His grace not for us to keep to ourselves, but for us to share with others. He has given us all that we need to fulfill His purpose, He has imparted to us the knowledge and wisdom we need to share the mystery of all that He is and will be in eternity past, present and future.

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace: wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence: having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” Ephesians 1:7-9

So it is that we live today with purpose, knowing that in us and through us He works toward the good of all that we meet along the way. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

For His Purpose . . .

I recently joined a ladies Bible Study group and the first assignment was to read the first book of Genesis. As I began to read I wasn’t able to get past the first phrase of the first verse. “In the beginning God . . .” Wow, have you ever paused there and just contemplated the power of all that is represented by that phrase?

I did a search to look at the word God found throughout the Bible, as I scrolled through I could not help but see my smallness (minuteness, meagerness, inadequacy) and His massiveness (immenseness, vastness, sufficiency).

Genesis 1:3 “And God said, . . .”

Genesis 1:4 “And God saw, . . .”

Genesis 1:5 “And God called, . . .”

Genesis 1:7 “And God made . . .”

Genesis 1:21 ” And God created . . .”

Genesis 1:22 “And God blessed. . . “

So much is contained within the first chapter of the Bible, so much is revealed about the power and magnitude of the God that we serve. Each aspect of our lives should reveal the attributes of the God that we see in Genesis 1. We should be demonstrating to the world the realization of the Creator that we serve, the Master of the universe, the Redeemer of the world. Each day should begin with the knowledge of all that we have within our reach, the ability to come before the God of all beginnings, the Father of all that come unto Him.

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22: 13-14

“In the beginning God . . .” Genesis 1:1

“And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.” II Chronicles 15:5

When reading this scripture I was struck by the close resemblance to our current time. Even though this scripture was written centuries ago, it was as if it were the latest headlines of a local newspaper. My heart pauses within me and my head bows low as I struggle with tears that form. I often think back over the past ten, fifteen, twenty years, thinking about the differences that now exist; differences we would never have dreamed possible even five years in the past.

Today the “vexation” of the spirit can become so overwhelming that despair would surely set in if it were not for the promises that we can find in God’s Holy Word. Though we live in the present, facing the struggles that are common to all, we know the rest of the story. We know that in the midst of vexation, God stands ever present caring for those that belong to Him.

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.” Isaiah 65: 13-14

In the midst of vexation, I will lift my eyes toward Heaven looking to the author and finisher of my faith who has promised to deliver me.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2