I Wanna Give Him a Reason to Hate Me
The topic for today’s post has been at work in me for a while and was solidified by my friend Anne’s post from last week.
It is the power of being a woman.
Growing up, I was certainly a tomboy and even through high school I battled with the role of being a woman. The idea of submitting to any man was outside of my realm of possibilities. But the older I get, the more I embrace my womanhood. What makes me special is that I am a woman. The world wasn’t finished before Eve and I think we as women should be embracing the power in that. And women need to feel empowered to be feminine. And everything that means.
On more than one occasion I have read and heard about how much the enemy hates women. More so than he hates men. But why?
Because he is jealous of her. Before the creation of Eve, Lucifer was the most beautiful thing God ever created and he knew that Eve was more beautiful than he. He didn’t go to her because she was weaker than Adam. He went to her because he wanted to destroy her.
But it sort of backfired on him.
Yes, she was deceived and she ate, but in Genesis 3 God says to the serpent after Eve explains what happened, “Because you have done this (serpent deceiving Eve), cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman.”
Perhaps the serpent thought God would destroy her for him. Or that God would change his mind about having created her. I don’t know. But instead, God further condemned him and further raised Eve up to do battle.
So, not only do women have the word of God in them, we also have the calling and anointing to do battle. And even now the enemy knows we were created for battle against him. Which is why we are the ones he comes after.
Yet, society is robbing us of that power.
I think for too long (especially in my generation) we have been given mixed signals about who we are and who are to be. Some are told we are in competition with men–in business, in ministry and even in relationships. And some of us have been told we are merely for show and created for pleasing a man sexually.
Whichever voice we’ve heard most, it is creating a generation of women who are sexually confused, angry at men and our relationships with God are strained or non-existent.
Jeremiah 31:21-23 says, “How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man.”
This doesn’t mean a woman is more powerful than a man, or is to rule over a man… or to be ruled over… no. It means she will stand beside him, stand with him, surround him, and even protect him in spiritual warfare. And that’s a powerful statement.
The second chapter of Joel speaks of “the fig tree,” “the grapevine” and “the olive oil.” I believe this is what God’s women are made of. The oil represents the anointing, the fig tree represents the sweetness, and the wine (or grapevine) represents the new thing. And that’s a whole lot better than the old “sugar and spice and everything nice.”
When God-fearing women begin manifesting these things in their families, their churches and the world, the enemy will be filled with terror. He knows that women will impact their world for God, just as the early church did in Acts 2.
There’s a quote that says, “Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, ‘Oh no, she’s awake.'”
Ladies, let’s really give the enemy a reason to hate us.
Guys, help us by empowering us to do so.
I don’t really have a question to end this post, but the floor is open for discussion…
I liked this post. It’s giving me some things to think about in my own life.
Wow! I’ve NEVER considered this before. (guess that’s part of the enemy’s plan…)Thanks for this post! I particulary liked your perspective about the garden. I feel empowered!
…beautiful writting too, my writer friend!!
that’s the prayer, friend. empowerment! 🙂
Great post Crystal! Love it. And I love that quote at the end.
Thanks, Brad! Happy to see you stopping by.
i think we see this a lot with women in ministry. i’ve really been fortunately to always work for churches that want to help elevate me to DO exactly what God has created me to do… which is why it’s a shocker when i step out of those 4 safe walls… mostly into OTHER churches, and get a rude awakening.
in those moments, i HAVE to remember these verses… but at the same time, depending on the situation… i have to check myself.
i ask: “did i try to overstep a boundary i wasn’t invited into?”, “was i trying to prove something there? prove myself?” and “is that my battle to fight?”
a really good friend of mine had a pretty big discussion about women leading worship a few years back. obviously, i was leading at the time, but he said he didn’t know if that was something God wanted for women. long story short, he was just processing God’s word out loud, not purposely trying to hurt me, but Satan used that as a vice to separate us in our friendship for a few years.
the reality is if it’s not this, satan will use something else. he’s yucky, and i want to punch him in the throat.
“the reality is if it’s not this, satan will use something else.”
good point. that’s why keeping ourselves prayed up in Ephesians 6 is SO important.
Thought provoking and very powerful. I’ll be rereading this a lot! A random thought: I once heard an interview with Tammy Wynette, the country singer. She shared some advice that she would give her daughters. She told them that there was nothing a man could do that they couldn’t do except when it came to physical strength. God just didn’t make us to be physically stronger than men. That stuck with me & helped me to be content with being one of the “weaker sex.” I believe the enemy uses that verse of scripture to stir up so much contempt in women. I know that God created me to be a woman, but He’s in love with my heart & my spirit. Only women were given the gift of birthing new life – Thank You, Father, for the new thing my Sister in the Faith is bringing forth!
Amazing post – couldn’t agree any more strongly!!