WOMEN, ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR BEGINNINGS . . .

The beginning of your story is in Genesis.  Like good food (fruit, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, good protein), true doctrine makes a true difference in a successful life.  You will understand your significance as you move through Scripture comparing one passage with others. Your life is a continuation of the story of Adam and Eve.  When the man and woman disobeyed their Creator, He justly punished the man and woman, our original parents, but He did not take their dominion away, neither did he take their individuality away. 

 

Since God has given you a spirit, soul and body, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thessalonians 5:23). They are yours to develop and refine. Giving your individuality away, squelching it, harms you and those around you:  your perspective, what you believe, your heart, your personality, and your abilities are for here and now.  They are gifts from your Creator to you.  Many facets of women, and their right to grow in them, have been dismissed by both the Church (Christianity) and men in leadership.  

 

Gifted women must be cautious. When I was growing up, my quiet but cerebral mother told me that to some men a woman who grows in her abilities is a threat. But there is a beautiful path to becoming whole: to girls, to females, to women, your distinctiveness is a gift from your Creator.  

 

When the man and woman sinned in the garden, God did not take personality and individuality from Eve, just as it was not taken from the man.  God did not take dominion from the woman or the man when they disobeyed. What God did was to give them each a handicap; their lives would now be harder.  To the man God said, "By the sweat of your face you will eat bread;" (Genesis 3:19) he would never get out of it: earning a living would be hard. To the woman God warned:  "I will greatly multiply your sorrow ... in sorrow you will bring forth children; and your desire will be to your husband, and he will rule (have power) over you." (Genesis 3:16). God had warned her. 

 

But some men abuse this. We see it today in the buying and selling of women; domestic violence happens. 

 

Women need not accept this unfair control and abuse.  Accept God’s discipline "Whom the Lord loves he corrects..."(Proverbs 3:12) and run with it.  Speak up.  “Speaking the truth in love . . .” (Ephesians 4:15) Watch what God does in your personality and confidence, your life, your marriage, your future. God is Good! He made you; why suppress your uniqueness? Handle the challenge, grow wise; grow to be whole.  Earn your husband's respect and the respect of every person in your world.  "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thessalonians 5:23) 

HER NAME IS ROSE

Her name is Rose.  She walked into my hospital room, and the room lit up.  Her focus on liking my smile, her initiative in seeking to give me support showed a heart that is unusually loving and generous.

She is a nurse, working toward her doctor’s degree.  She is from Haiti and loves our Country.  She excels in everything I could pinpoint in our short acquaintance.  She certainly did not talk about herself and her accomplishments.  I told her, as she took my blood pressure and temperature, that she reminded me of Jesus.  Just before He died to pay for our sins, He washed the feet of the twelve.  I told her that she has a servant’s heart.

We talked for the little time that she had.  She worries about her sons.  I encouraged her to read the Bible with them every day, and perhaps begin with the Book of John.  “That is the Book my husband and I are reading right now,” I told her.  She accepted, even thanked me for the conversation, “I told God,” she said, “that I am ready to give up.  I’m going to become neutral.” Obviously, her discouragement had reoccurred.  She told me she had said this to God before, and every time she did, something happened to give her pause.

Our son, Zach called the room right then, and in her presence, I told him that my nurse was concerned about her children.  He told me to tell her that he will pray for them.

How natural was that conversation!  Rose blessed me so thoroughly that I felt that her being on duty that day was a gift from the Lord.

So, if you read this Blog, Rose, thank you and God speed.  We are sisters in Jesus.