I’m happily in isolation on an island that can only be reached by seaplane or ferry. During this week away, I’ve asked several friends to fill in for me this week. Hopefully you’ll meet some new voices of people I admire.
Today?s post comes from Crystal Renaud. She was but a mere high school senior when I met her, seven or so years ago. Now she is growing into a passionate and brave young woman with a heart for helping women discover and embrace their God given gifts.
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Shortage of Power
Growing up, I was certainly a tomboy and even through high school I battled with the role of being a woman. But the older I get, the more I embrace my womanhood. What makes me special is that I am a woman. The world wasn?t finished before Eve and I think we as women we need to feel empowered to on our God-given role.
On more than one occasion I have read and heard about how much the enemy hates women. More so than he hates men. But why?
Because he is jealous of her. Before the creation of Eve, Lucifer was the most beautiful thing God ever created and he knew that Eve was more beautiful than he. He didn?t go to her because she was weaker than Adam. He went to her because he wanted to destroy her.
But it sort of backfired on him.
Yes, she was deceived, but in Genesis 3 God says to the serpent, ?Because you have done this (serpent deceiving Eve), cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman.?
Perhaps the serpent thought God would destroy her for him. Or that God would change his mind about having created her. I don?t know. But instead, God further condemned him and further raised Eve up to do battle.
So, not only do women have the word of God in them, we also have the calling and anointing to do battle. And even now the enemy knows we were created for battle against him. Which is why we are the ones he comes after.
Yet, society is robbing us of that power.
For too long (especially in my generation) women have been given mixed signals about who we are and what our role is. Some are told we?re in competition with men?in business, ministry and even in relationships. And some of us have been told we?re merely for show and pleasing men sexually.
Whichever voice we?ve heard most, these extremes are creating a generation of women who are sexually confused, angry at men and our relationships with God are strained or non-existent.
Jeremiah 31:21-23 says, ?How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man.?
This doesn?t mean a woman is to rule over a man? or to be ruled over? no. It means she will stand beside him, stand with him, surround him, and even protect him in spiritual warfare. And that?s a powerful statement.
Joel 2 speaks of ?the fig tree,? ?the grapevine? and ?the olive oil.? I believe this is what God?s women are made of. The oil representing the anointing, the fig tree representing the sweetness, and the wine (or grapevine) representing the new thing.
When God-fearing women begin manifesting these things in their families, their churches and the world, the enemy will be filled with terror. He knows that women will impact their world for God, just as the early church did in Acts 2.
And that?s a whole lot better than the old ?sugar and spice and everything nice.?
There?s a quote that says, ?Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, ?Oh no, she?s awake.??
What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Has our culture of gender confusion and role reversal robbed us of our true call to do battle? What can be done to regain what’s been stolen?
