As a woman, I've constantly had to ward off feelings of insignificance; a nagging feeling that constantly has me asking the question, "Just who am I?"
I must admit that I've taken pride in certain labels: wife, mother, daughter, career woman, entrepreneur, woman of God... But what happens when the very labels that seem to define you are stripped off you? Where can you hide when the labels used to define you are words that fill you with guilt or shame? Hurtful, hateful words that your friends will whisper behind your back and your enemies shout from the rooftop?
Barren. Divorcee. Prostitute. Widow. Sickly...
Indeed, there's nothing new under the sun, as most of these words were at one time used to describe a woman in the Bible. Women whose mishaps God used to bring Him glory. Think of the barren Hannah, a woman whose heartfelt prayer to God made even Eli the priest mistake her for a drunk! From her womb, came Samuel - the prophet who anointed two of Israel's greatest kings Saul & David, and the last of Israel's judges.
The unnamed Samaritan woman who looked Jesus straight in the eye, and claimed to have no husband. I mean, where do you even start when you've had not just one failed marriage, but five, and the sixth one is no longer 'it'? And yet, even though Jesus knew everything about her, He did not treat her like a pariah but offered her eternal life! (John 4:14)
Rahab the prostitute (Josh 2), Ruth the widow (Ruth 1-4), the sickly woman who had bled for twelve years with no cure found (Luke 8:43-47)... Read their stories of shame and eventual redemption, and keep this one truth in mind; that the names God calls you are not dependent on circumstances. The names that He calls you are not even dependent on your performance, or lack of it. Look up with confidence and joy knowing that He has labeled you thus: Daughter, Friend, Beloved, Chosen, Blessed, Saint, His.
I must admit that I've taken pride in certain labels: wife, mother, daughter, career woman, entrepreneur, woman of God... But what happens when the very labels that seem to define you are stripped off you? Where can you hide when the labels used to define you are words that fill you with guilt or shame? Hurtful, hateful words that your friends will whisper behind your back and your enemies shout from the rooftop?
Barren. Divorcee. Prostitute. Widow. Sickly...
Indeed, there's nothing new under the sun, as most of these words were at one time used to describe a woman in the Bible. Women whose mishaps God used to bring Him glory. Think of the barren Hannah, a woman whose heartfelt prayer to God made even Eli the priest mistake her for a drunk! From her womb, came Samuel - the prophet who anointed two of Israel's greatest kings Saul & David, and the last of Israel's judges.
The unnamed Samaritan woman who looked Jesus straight in the eye, and claimed to have no husband. I mean, where do you even start when you've had not just one failed marriage, but five, and the sixth one is no longer 'it'? And yet, even though Jesus knew everything about her, He did not treat her like a pariah but offered her eternal life! (John 4:14)
Rahab the prostitute (Josh 2), Ruth the widow (Ruth 1-4), the sickly woman who had bled for twelve years with no cure found (Luke 8:43-47)... Read their stories of shame and eventual redemption, and keep this one truth in mind; that the names God calls you are not dependent on circumstances. The names that He calls you are not even dependent on your performance, or lack of it. Look up with confidence and joy knowing that He has labeled you thus: Daughter, Friend, Beloved, Chosen, Blessed, Saint, His.
