Hello dear reader, have you read our previous write-up on the strength of a woman? If not, please click on this link to access it.
When we read the stories of strong women who did great exploits in the bible, the peculiar traits we notice is that they all had a relationship with God. They were women of godly character and were endowed with talents. It is fundamentally from a place of intimacy with God that they understood their role, discerned their assignment and how to carry it out. They were greatly used by God. By the strength of God and in collaboration with the men, God’s purposes for nations and generations was made manifest.
Also worth noting about the great women in the bible is the strength imbedded in their virtuous character. The bible records great women who were very humble in Character, willing to serve, yet did great exploits and were very instrumental in God’s plans for liberation of nations and generations.
In the biblical book of Esther, we notice that Esther’s relationship with God and her virtuous character where fundamental in her ascending to becoming queen, finding favor in the sight of the King and fulfilling purpose of influencing the king to liberate and not destroy the Jews.
Let’s also take a look at Deborah who is introduced in Judges 4:1 first as a:
– Prophet (she had a relationship with God, she was a worshipper who heard and obeyed God);
– The wife of Lapidoth (She was a good wife, a wife of noble character- the kind of wife described in proverbs 31:10-31)
– She was a judge (Greatly talented and used her skills to serve her community).
Deborah had all these qualities and she attributed her rising to accepting the call of God to service as a MOTHER of Israel who toiled for the liberation of Israel.
“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel.” Judges 5:6-7.
The qualities of being a wife of Lapidoth and mother speaks a lot about the character of Deborah – (love, submissiveness, empathy, kindness, respect, humility etc). Deborah was talented- a great judge, nevertheless, Deborah recognized her role as a woman and worked in the strength of noble Character. Though she understood the times and seasons and was a great judge, she did go to override the men or despise their role. It is very important to develop our talents, grow professionally etc but let’s not downplay the strength of virtuous character and our role as women. Deborah portrayed virtue as she carried out her role of a wife, respected the role of the men in her society and they worked together in liberating of Israel and at the end God was glorified.
On the other hand, if the strength of a woman is not submitted to God and contained in Godly character birth through the transformation of the Holy Spirit, it will lead to damage. Let’s look at Delilah. Samson was a man of great strength and power and was set apart for great exploits by God. Samson won the battles against the Philistines who could not defeat Samson and sort ways to bring Samson down. The strategy the Philistines used to bring down Samson was partnering with Delilah to get Samson’s secrets. Delilah persistently lured Samson to uncover his secrets which she revealed to the Philistines. With the uncovering of Samson’s secrets about his strength, the Philistines subdued Samson.
Dear sister, let us be careful about the kind of strength for women propagated by human philosophies but it is time for us to go back to the word of God and anchor to Jesus Christ who is our strength. Our God given strength is to be used in effectively carrying out our role as a woman and for the fulfilment of our God-ordained purpose. The source of our strength is God and for good works, this strength is for the woman to fulfil her role as a woman and not for evil or to distort God’s plan for humanity. Power not put into right use will only cause damage.
The lives of the biblical women is a marker to us that the strength of a woman is embedded in virtuous character generated by the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. It is our prayer that we may be imparted by God’s word and by the help of the Holy Spirit grow in virtue and live as Godly women.