Mission Impossible?
Here's a blast from the past.
So can I be honest here? That message of the 80's was the image of womanhood I thought I was supposed to live up to. After exhausting myself, burning more bacon than I ever brought home and giving my husband shivers not eluded to in this commercial, let me assure you the 24-hour woman needs more than perfume!
Last week while studying Genesis, I was reminded that we females are "fashioned" by God. We come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. We can be prissy, athletic or both! We can love pink or NOT. The point is we’ve all been created distinctively female and according to the"helper design". Remember what God said…no helper suitable was made for Adam so God provided one. You say, but I’m not married. I'm not talking about being married. I'm talking about ALL women fulfilling their purposes according to their role as helper (helper design). Read what Susan Hunt says about out helper design:
“Helper is not a fragile word, and we are not called to a mission of fluff. This is a life-giving ministry of nurture, defense, comfort and caring. Adam celebrated the purpose and privilege of this design when he ‘called his wife’s name Eve, because she was a mother of all living’. Two words summarize the helper ministry: community and compassion. But sin marred woman’s design, and now she thinks about her womanhood in terms of her own self-fulfillment. She seeks her own completeness. She is her own reference point. She is her own authority. She abandons her design and mission for a never-ending quest for her own happiness. Woman became a life-taker rather than a life giver… It is because of our redemption that we can live out our helper design. Redeeming love breaks the reign of sin in our lives and empowers us to fulfill our creation mission. And it is our knowledge of our Redemer’s love that compels us to do so.” Susan Hunt - The Legacy of Biblical Womanhood
Being in the world but not of the world (John 17:16), is all about the hard selfless work of nurturing, defending, comforting and helping others on behalf of God Himself. And, in doing so, we reflect His image. Sound beautiful and I want it so much to live this way. But...
This kind of work is both emotionally and physically exhausting. And, I admit - there are times...days...okay even weeks where I want it to be "all about me." People’s lives can be messy and getting involved can be costly. Honestly, this life giving mission is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit of God. And, as Mrs. Hunt says, in the world this kind of helper ministry lifestyle doesn’t fit or make sense. Truthfully, helper ministry only fits and makes sense within a community of women who have surrendered their lives to Christ and understand, embrace and live out their role as helper. Thank God for my sisters!
The Enjoli commercial spoke into my life independence, "self sufficiency is power", pride in my ability to bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan and never let him forget he’s a man. It was all about me and my glory. The message of the Enjoli commercial is a lie that my generation believed and it is the lie we have passed on to the next generation and the next… This lifestyle and thinking is in stark contrast to the Word of God.
“Helper is not a fragile word, and we are not called to a mission of fluff. This is a life-giving ministry of nurture, defense, comfort and caring.”
Married, single, divorced, widowed our mission and role as helpers is life giving. Reconciliation with God brings life and we speak reconciliation with words, actions, behaviors, and attitudes that nurture, defend, comfort, and care. This is serious, life giving work! As women, we have a unique role in God’s plan (as do men). Before the foundation of the world, God planned for us. He knit each of us together in our mother’s wombs – distinctively female according to the helper design.
God has prepared specific works of nurture, defense, comfort and caring for us each one of us to accomplish
. These works are life giving and God glorifying and prepared specifically for each one of us. Wow!
When the reality of this truth sinks in there is no way we can look around and measure our lives against the lives of others. Knowing this, why would we ever entertain the thought that we are less than or our good works are not as important as the good works of others? I’ll tell you why. We’ve believed a lie! The one that immediately comes to mind is: “Surely God is holding out on me!” Trace it all the way back to the fall. Eve’s and ours! Are you mad yet? Satan’s crafty, lying, killing and scheming ways have distracted us, taken us on a detour, and robbed us of understanding and fulfilling our unique God given purpose. Just like Eve, the evil one has come along and caused us to doubt God’s word, His will and His good intentions toward us.
Enough! We are mad and we aren’t going to take it anymore! Let’s forget all that WAS or even IS and focus on what CAN BE and SHOULD BE! We can do it! Amen?
