Women, arise.
Women are incredibly vital. Our voices, our stories, intentions, decisions. It matters and it's so important to be purposeful of our actions, words, and choices. God has opened my eyes so clearly to the fact that women's actions are super important especially in regard to being led by the man. While being led by the man, I've noticed man looks to woman. And if the woman misleads, that's where downfall happens.
Two particular stories I want to highlight: Adam + Eve and Abram + Sarai
In the garden Adam existed. Eve came second.
He; breathed by the breath of God, she; taken to be made one with he.
But he--Adam--reigning authority and Eve's following.
From how they were arranged from the beginning, I believe it is natural for man to look to the woman for point of view, perspective, and ideas; a second eye.
When the man does so, the woman needs to be ready to make sound decisions based off of truth, scripture, wisdom, and love. Because while the man makes the final call, a woman's wisdom is considered in the process.
ADAM AND EVE:
Adam knew every rule. Do not eat from the tree. Eve didn't know, she was unaware, she was led into temptation, she sinned, leading them both into sin because she had no sound wisdom, no personal revelation from God. Because if she had the closeness to God like Adam did, she could have had a discerning heart, knowing the difference between truth and evil. When she agreed to eat from the tree that was off limits, no, Adam did not stop her, but she led BOTH of them into sin and shame because of her lack.
Imagine this:
Imagine if Eve had wisdom.
Imagine if she rose up against temptation and said "that's not right, let's ask God."
Imagine if she stood up in all authority and led herself and her man into righteousness and holiness.
I believe that's what women are created for. Being led + leading.
By leading I mean being close the Father's heart. Because when we are tender to the heart of Jesus, we are capable tomake sound, wise, loving decisions. We are one with God--having his ways, learning his heart.
ABRAM + SARAI:
This one gets me. I feel responsible for Sarai's actions and decision making because I'm a woman and I'm so embarrassed and wish I could apologize to Abram right now! HAHA
Abram TRUSTED God with everything inside of Him. He was patient and trusting that God would fufill every promise given. When they hadn't yet bore a child Sarai took the process into her own hands. This girl said, "go sleep with the servant Hagar, that way we can have our child."And Abram DID IT! Guys. He sought out her opinion, trusting her, and he actionably listened. Ulitmelty, Sarai's impatience led to discord + broken relationships between the three of them. Her inability to be patient WITH her husband, pushed him out of trusting Jesus--because he trusted his wife's wisdom (here, lack of).
At the time, this action of having a child by another woman was completely normal. A woman who couldn't bear would have her child through a servant. But the issue with this instance is that God made a specific promise to Sarai and Abram, and she went against what God promised for them--not trusting the Father and taking matter into her own hands.
Imagine this:
Imagine if Sarai's faith matched or even exceeded her husband's
Imagine if she could have led her and her husband into holiness and righteousness
Imagine if she was near to the Father's heart, knowing what he promised for both of them, she could have stirred up more faith inside of them, not backing down and letting flesh take action over the will of God.
Women! We have a responsibility. To be led and lead, to know the heart of Jesus, to walk in his ways, to hold fast to truth and wisdom, to be tender, to have a soundness in making the right decisions, to lead ourselves and others into holiness and righteousness.
I'm grateful for the women who went before us-- we can learn from them.
We can rise up and lead because Jesus came to uncover sin and save us from it.
So we have time and the opportunity to lead with tenderness and holiness.
What a time to lead with truth + revelation. This is a time to rise up with authority from heaven, to walk out our responsibility and be near to the heart of the Father.
We need soundness with the Spirit of God. We need nearness to his heart. We need to lead with love and truth.
Take this however you need it: in your relationships with friends, your boyfriend, husband, fiancé, your parents, your bosses. I just believe women have this great opportunity to rise up and show Jesus' heart and it can be revealed in any relationship with prayer and devotion to Jesus. When faced with a moment of trust from a loved one, how a woman responds is considered and plays a part. So respond with grace, truth, love-- respond with Jesus not flesh, not temptation, not solely our desire. Your decision affects more than you.
Genesis 3
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Genesis 16:1-5
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) 4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”
This is living.