I have often sat in rooms where biblical womanhood is discussed. Sometimes the depiction can range from a somewhat naive and optimistic woman, to a quasi-warrior queen. Both of these pictures hold some truth and caveat. Thankfully, I have had the privilege of knowing many godly women throughout my life, and they all seem very different at first glance. How do we reconcile what a godly woman looks like when the narrative ranges from Hannah to Deborah? Regardless of appearances, I believe the foundational beliefs of these women to be the same: they are grounded in truth and loving dependence on the Lord alone.
The godly woman’s hope is found in the Lord. This may not appear radical to the professing believer, but it takes a deeply rooted faith in actuality. Life is flooded with distractions and shiny objects ripe to steal our gaze and contentment from the Creator and rest it on the created. The designer house, the perfect marriage or fairy tail romance, beauty, popularity, status, power, and control can give a sense of false security and empty our lives of eternal purpose. This is because no person or thing can ever be a holding place for God. When the eyes and heart of a woman are on her future with the Lord, the eternal, far eclipsing the temporal, she is able to actualize her purpose in step with the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 40:31 says “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” We move towards what our affections are upon.
On the flip side of that, the godly woman fears only the Lord. One of the most profound and quoted verses in Proverbs 31 is that the godly woman “laughs at the time to come.” Illness, the loss of loved ones, financial problems, divorce, loneliness, and general uncertainty of our earthly future, seems hardly a laughing matter, and for many it can shake their faith in a loving and provincial God. Everyone deals with fear, and to say we can completely rid ourselves of it this side of eternity seems unlikely at best, but it should be ever diminishing in our lives in light of an omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign, and loving God. God has a plan for us, and He is going to see it through. One of my personal favorite verses is Romans 8:28, “and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” When a daughter of God can finally rest knowing and trusting God’s purposes and processes are truly the best, it’s a slow exhale moment. She is no longer white knuckling her way through life, clinging to control, rather she can live open handed and experience true peace.
Lastly, and I think the entry point for everything else previously stated, the mature woman in the Lord has a hunger and thirst for the Word of God and is in regular communication with Him. We are all completely dependent on the Lord to sustain us, inform us, and empower us. He will equip us for every good work! How can someone work out the will of someone, or be loving towards someone, that they haven’t taken the time to know? Psalm 37:4 says, “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart”. The mature woman should be so delighted by the Lord and His Word that her desires become indistinguishable from His.
Ultimately, the mature daughter in Christ has a depth of love and trust in the Lord. It’s not just a feeling, but something that is acted upon and drawn upon for strength. My prayer is that the many different types of women that embody our church and Christian community will move deeper into maturity in their faith in the Lord. That the many expressions of a character derived from divine hope, peace, and a spiritual hunger will be God exalting and wooing to a perishing world.
North Bullitt Christian Church 