About a year ago I began to learn “my” definition of a strong Christian woman. This is my definition…and this is why.
Strength: the ability to care to the fullest extent for a person during a time of need regardless of situation or past/present/future standing with the person; the giving of one’s emotions, time, & self, even when it may result in more than two days without sleep just to serve God and one person; the willingness to pray endlessly to comfort, protection, and rage war against evil for another when needed even when we may become under attack; The willingness to face evil in the eye and proclaim the blood of Christ knowing the war is already won but we still must face the Goliath; the ability to share in the pain of another’s hurt and love them as Christ loves them regardless of situation but simply because we are called and the Holy Spirit moves in us; the willingness to just serve with a simple heart; And the willingness to forgive…even when it means we won’t forget.
It is a big definition…and honestly…that’s only the beginning…I’m still learning more about this “strength” thing…I’m sure I will end my days without knowing half of what it means. But this is what I do know. Strength is not necessarily measured on muscles, how often you don’t break down and cry, and your hearts health and ability to survive a heart attack. I guess that’s the world’s definition of strength…but not God’s. Strength is found in the will and soul of a person. It is allowing the Holy Spirit to move us, even into uncomfortable situations, to serve in the kingdom.
“Jesus wept”
John 11:25-45
Crying is seen as a sign of weakness…but there is nothing weak about feeling the intense grief and pain of another person and shedding tears for them out of love for God’s children and creation. It is draining…and requires a strength that only God gives, to give hope, words, love into the situation. Remember…Jesus wept… broke down after he was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled”. What an amazing passage…
"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
"Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
“The Lord IS my Strength”
Exodus 15:2
“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”
Story time. My first semester at Crown seems to be a blur now…it was one of my best semesters of college and a large time in my life for discovery of myself and my purpose. During this time people dropped into my life that seemed to just “sense” that it was safe to open up to me about their darkness…even if I had only just met them. One such person became my roommate for that next year. After a period of time growing as sister in Christ I entered a world of spiritual warfare where she was…helped to pull her from there…and watched her life turn around as she headed into ministry. The night she was became free from years of bondage she slept on the extra bed in my old dorm room. I sat awake across the room on my bed that night fully alert and read scripture continually over her. Romans got covered at least 3 times as well as Ephesians. (Romans 8) My purpose was to protect, feed, and bless her in this time. Sleep was not necessary and though I was exhausted I was completely alert and ready to rage war on any evil that dare touch her. Did Christ not do this for us? Have we forgotten the extreme of his love? Staying up all night praying and reading scripture was such a small thing compared to dying on a cross for all mankind! Any strength that I had during that time was in love…I knew God’s love, saw Christ’s love and forgiveness that night, and wanted to continue to give that and speak of it…its nothing having to do with me…but as a Hillsong song quotes…”All for Love a Father Gave….for only Love could make a way.”
“Forgiveness and Strength”
Numbers 14:16-18
“Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared. The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of their fathers to the third and fourth generation. “
Forgiving and forgetting. Forgiveness is the term used in the scriptures…but almost as often is this term “forgetting”. We are always told to put both together…but the truth of this is that just because we forgive doesn’t mean we block it from our memory. We learn from mistakes, how we are treated, how we treat others. We grow from it. It is not a bad idea to revisit those low moments of life to remember where we came from and that we really aren’t any better than the next person. OF course we must remember we are forgiven, it is in the past. I am not saying to repeat the mistake, but simply to not forget that we were brought out of darkness and forgiven. God can bring good to any situation if we let Him. He brings light to the darkness. One of the moments recently that reminded me how forgiveness ties into strength, and Gods will, is through an old email of someone who just simply said “what you’ve shown me, forgiveness, that’s what i needed to experience not just "I’m sorry and its ok", but deep spiritual forgiveness like you’ve shown me after hurting you so badly.”…I can’t remember now even what happened between me and that friend…but just that forgiveness meant so much even when I was apparently so hurt….even then strength was growing. We have to let God take care of the rest. So we got hurt, and the hurt may be so extreme that we live with the reminder of what happened each day, but we forgive. Seek the good in what happened, maybe someone will come to Christ in the end. Pray for the one who hurt you or those you hurt. We should be pleading God for Him to forgive them and find them in their darkest places. One lost sheep is still a sheep in the flock…are you going to let that sheep just go? And we must not forget to pray for ourselves, for healing, the ability to forgive, and to not dwell.
Ephesians 3:12-21 (The Message)
When we trust in him, we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don't let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud! My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
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