2 Things We MUST Understand About Being a Woman
Tarah Avery
Have you ever noticed that throughout history there are more attacks on and hatred toward women than men?
This has changed slightly since feminism has skyrocketed (but that’s another topic). So, let me explain. I’m not feminist and I don’t claim that women are the same as men. I believe men and women were created unique and different from each other, which is a beautiful thing. But I will agree that women have been mistreated and are still mistreated today by men and women in cultures across the globe.
Let me shed some light…
Years ago, little girls in China were left on the side of the road to die. Chinese boys are the pride of the family and carry on the family line. It’s easier to adopt a little girl from China than it is a little boy. And the message to little girls? You are not wanted. You don’t matter.”
Throughout Jewish history, women were considered property with no legal rights (this occurs still today in many cultures). They were not allowed to formally educate their children and had a segregated place in the synagogue.
In parts of Africa, a girl’s clitoris is removed. This little girl becomes a woman forever maimed, never able to experience the sexual pleasure that God created us to experience. A sexually aware woman is thought to be dangerous, and so her femininity must be controlled.
Sexual violence is rampant in the world. In 2015 over 350,000 American girls were trafficked for sex in the United States.*
The story of how women have been treated throughout the ages is not noble. It seems that overall women have endured a special hatred ever since we left Eden in the story of Adam and Eve.
But don’t believe that I’m saying men are the enemy. Men have had a hand in this as well as women, but you will not understand your story or these stories unless you begin to see the actual forces behind them.
For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.
–Ephesians 6:12
Let’s start with the second thing (yes, we’re going a little backward this time) you need to know in order to understand being a woman:
2) You are passionately hated by the Enemy of God.
No explanation for the assault on Eve and her daughters is sufficient unless it opens our eyes to the Prince of Darkness and his special hatred of femininity.
Stasi Eldredge, Captivating
Let me take you back to the beginning of time, to the Garden of Eden. Did you ever notice that the Serpent (Satan) went after the woman, Eve?
Have you ever wondered why? To be honest I hadn’t until I was re-reading “Captivating” by John & Stasi Eldredge. They opened my eyes to some amazing truths that I cannot wait to share here! Stasi’s answer to this question is this: she believes Satan hates Eve and her daughters because he is jealous of us.
He is jealous of our beauty because we are captivating and uniquely glorious, and he cannot be. Woman is the incarnation of the beauty of God more than anything else in the world, in all of creation.
Here’s what I mean, Satan was the most beautiful of Angels before he fell; he was the incarnation of the beauty of God before God created Eve (Ezekiel 28:12-14). We, as daughters of Eve, became the climax of Creation, the most beautiful.
And Satan fell because of his beauty ( Ezekiel 28:17 ).
And now his revenge is for beauty. He destroys it whenever he can, and he especially seeks to destroy Eve (Woman) whenever he can. Satan not only hates Eve because of her beauty – our beauty – but because she also brings life.
We are life-givers; women give birth, not men. We nourish life and bring it into the world. Satan has been a murderer since the beginning (John 8:44). He brings death. So Eve is his greatest threat because she brings life and he seeks to destroy and bring death to those around him – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Satan’s bitter heart cannot stand it. He assaults women with a special hatred. We see it in history.
He fears the power that you hold.
And the beautiful thing is that there is One greater than the Enemy. One who has pursued you from the very beginning of time. He has come to restore your weary, broken heart and heal your feminine soul.
And this brings us to our first point of understanding.
1) You are passionately loved by God.
( Isaiah 62:1-5 )
You are the crown of creation, Gods image-bearer. He will do everything in his power to rescue you and set your heart free.
Think of it this way, would a good father feel satisfied when his daughter is rescued from a car accident only to be left in the ICU? No! He would be in pain for her; he wants to see his daughter healed and free from the bondage of pain. And God has that and so much more in mind for us.
He desires to see us set free of the lies that we’ve chosen to believe about ourselves because of the verbal, sexual, physical, or spiritual abuse we’ve experienced.
Here is his heart for you according to Isaiah 61:1-3, translated into modern language by Stasi,
God has sent me on a mission.
I have some great news for you.
God has sent me to restore and release something.
And that something is you.
I am here to give you back your heart and set you free.
I am furious at the Enemy who did this to you, and I will fight against him.
Let me comfort you.
For, dear one, I will bestow beauty upon you
where you have known only devastation.
Joy, in the places of your deep sorrow.
And I will robe your heart in thankful praise
in exchange for your resignation and despair.
So that’s it. I am not saying that men are off the hook. We will all come face to face with God one day and have to live up to the wrongs we’ve done. But what I am saying is that you won’t begin to understand the long assault on femininity, on women, until you see it as a part of something much larger.
The Enemy has had a hand in every bad thing that has ever happened to you. He desires to see you lonely, full of shame and guilt, filled with doubt and worry; because those things bring death to your soul and that is exactly what he wishes to see happen. He fears who you are and who you might become. He fears your beauty and life-giving heart.
You have been assaulted. You have fallen to your own resources and your Enemy, God’s Enemy, has pounced on the opportunities that your wounds and your sin open to him. But the Son of God has come to ransom you. To rescue you and set you free from bondage. He came to restore the glorious creation that you are, to set you free to become truly and fully yourself.
It is time for your restoration. For there is One greater than your Enemy. One who has sought you out from the beginning of time. He has come to heal your broken heart and restore your feminine soul. Let us now run to him.
Stasi Eldredge, Captivating
So, understand, dear one, that to fully embrace who you are as a woman and to understand your full femininity you need to remember that: You are passionately loved by God.
You are passionately hated by his Enemy.
There is a battle being fought in the unseen. And it is being fought for you, for your heart.
Invite Jesus in to help restore and heal the wounds of your heart. He longs to. Will you let him come for you?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Your Sister,
*SharedHope.org
