The Calling of a Woman Part 1 and 2

This God's Been Good Monday, I am posting something off of my friend, Rebecca's blog. The calling of a woman...she goes into great detail on what biblically is a woman's calling, and this is something that I have been wanting to post on for awhile, and Rebecca says it well! This will be a 4 part post, so be sure to check back often!

The Calling of a Woman: Part 1 and 2
by Rebecca posted at Rebecca's Reflections


I have vivid memories of some of the discussions that took place while I was in Bible college. One frequent topic of conversation was surrounding the calling of a woman. Is a woman called to a ministry or to a man? I do not recall ever coming to a definite conclusion in those dorm room discussions, by the way. (Are any problems ever solved or questions answered in those debates?)

Perhaps you already have some definite ideas about the calling of a woman. The purpose of this post (and the the ones that follow) is to encourage you to to think biblically about a woman's calling and to be able to defend your position from the Word of God. My goal is not merely to stir everyone up over (what may seem to some) a controversial topic. I hope that this series of posts will challenge all of us to reexamine our beliefs in the light of God's Word.

To begin with, I would like to share a brief word of testimony. As some of you may already know, I am blessed to have been reared in a Christian home. I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior when I was eight years old. When I was beginning the sixth grade, my parents took my three siblings and I out of a local public school to home school us. Over the next few years, God did a tremendous work in my heart to bring me to the point of surrendering everything to Him. And when I was sixteen years old, I surrendered my life to the Lord to serve Him in a full-time capacity. At the time, I was especially interested in someday going to the mission field. A few years later, when it came time to choose a minor in Bible college, I chose a missions minor.

In Bible college, there were a number of girls who were heading towards the mission field. However, some girls quickly changed their plans when a particular young man expressed interest in them. Other girls stood firmly in their conviction that the Lord had called them to the mission field. (I struggled with this dilemma myself when a few guys expressed interest in me.) In chapel, we would sometimes hear a preacher tell the story of a woman whom the Lord had called to the mission field, but she didn't go because of a man. He said that the woman regretted the decision for the rest of her life. On the other hand, I recall one lady telling us that she had felt called to go to the mission field before she met her husband who was planning to be a pastor. In her present position as a pastor's wife, she said that the Lord had given her a ministry to the deaf--and that ministry was her mission field.

In my days since Bible college, I have heard invitations in which a call was given for young ladies to come forward and surrender themselves to be missionary's wives and pastor's wives. I have even heard of some young men who determined the calling of a particular young lady and made their own plans accordingly. (I am very tempted to comment on such a man's lack of initiative and leadership, but I had better not digress from my topic.)

But the dilemma over a woman's calling is certainly not one that is limited to the Christian ministry realm alone. It seems there is just as much confusion with women in secular work. It is a well known fact that women (and men, for that matter) are getting married at an increasingly older age in order to get established in their careers. And when women finally do get married, they sometimes delay having children for the same reason.

I must admit that the pursuits and priorities of women today leaves me feeling confused--and a little disheartened. Is this the way God intended things to be? This question brings me back to my original topic--what is the calling of the woman? Over the next few posts, I would like to look at the lives of some women in the Bible and some principles found in the Word of God which I believe will shed some light on a woman's calling. I invite you to join me!

Part 2:

In this post, I would like to look at the lives of a few women of the Bible. I believe that there is much that we can glean from their examples. In the brief glimpses given to us in the Word of God, we can see their purpose, their priorities--and yes, even their calling as women. I think that I will start at the beginning with the very first woman. . . .

Eve

"And the LORD GOD said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. . . . And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man (Genesis 2:18, 23)."

In these verses, we see the purpose for the creation of Eve and all women after her. God created Eve to be a help meet for Adam. The meaning of the word help meet is "a help which is suitable or fit". Eve was created for the express purpose of helping her husband in his work.

Sarah

"Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee. . . . And Abram took Sarai his wife. . . (Genesis 12:1, 5a)."

I have always been amazed by the faith of Abraham. He packed up and left to go to an unknown place. For some reason, though, I don't usually think about Sarah--she went with Abraham. You are probably thinking: of course she did--she was his wife! Think about it, though: Sarah did not know where she was going, yet she followed her husband without any apparent argument or fuss. I know many women that have gone with their husbands to faraway lands, but I would venture to say that most of them knew where they were going in advance. Sarah followed Abraham without even knowing her final destination.

Rebekah

"And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man [Abraham's servant]? And she said, I will go. . . . And Isaac took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. . . (Genesis 25:58, 67b)."

For most women today, it would seem inconceivable to agree to marry a man that they have never seen or met. Yet, Rebekah believed the word of Abraham's trusted servant, and she left everything that was familiar to marry Isaac. The home of Isaac became her home, and his family became her family.

Proverbs 31 Woman

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life (Proverbs 31:20, 11)."

Of course, this is part of the very familiar passage of Proverbs 31. Clearly, the main priority of the woman described here is her family. Her ministry to her husband and children is the all-consuming focus of her life.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive commentary of all of the women in the Bible. (I have neither the time nor the space to mention every woman spoken of in the Bible.) There are many more women mentioned in the Word of God. However, I found frequently that relatively little is said of the women themselves. In fact, sometimes all that is said about a particular woman is that "she is the wife of [husband's name]". Isn't that interesting? A woman's identity was entirely wrapped up in that of her husband. The women of the Bible were not trying to make names for themselves. Characteristically, they lived quiet lives--following their husbands and serving their families.

Most of the women of the Bible could be characterized as follows:
They followed their husbands without question.
Their home was their first priority.
They had no agenda of their own.

I hope that Part 2 of my series, The Calling of a Woman has been helpful to you! Some of you may be wondering: What does this have to do with a woman's calling? Please be patient--I will eventually attempt to tie everything together. Lord willing, in Part 3, we will look at some principles from the Word of God concerning God's purpose for women. Then, in Part 4, I will conclude with some thoughts of my own.

Well...I know that this was a long post for today! But this has been such an encouragement. Whether you attend college or are a stay at home daughter or maybe you are married, I hope this post was an encouragement to be the godly lady that God designed you to be!