Another big obstacle that I had to overcome on my journey to “Soaring as a Single Woman” was that a serious lack of self-confidence.
Some of this was rooted in the lie that I believed that men were superior to women.
Women were meant to “help” and “support” but God had called men to do the heavy lifting or real work in his kingdom. Honestly, I don’t think I believed that I was capable of functioning without a husband. I completely bought into the idea that women were the “weaker” vessel.
The funny thing in my life was that God didn’t buy into this idea at all.
Throughout my journey, God continued calling me to do things that I honestly didn’t think I could do and I wasn’t even sure I believed it was God’s will for women to do. Which is somewhat ironic but…..
One of the things I’ve learned is that no matter how the Bible has been distorted over the years to fit into people’s distorted ideas, it is not God’s will for His women to be wimps.
In fact, what I’ve learned is that “God thinks you are smarter, stronger and more capable than you can imagine and He will wants to stretch your abilities to match what He sees.”
This was a real obstacle for me to overcome because after years of being taught that women were supposed to be quiet, submissive, “helpers”, it was difficult for me to believe that God wanted me to be a strong, capable, empowered woman with a destiny to fulfill for His kingdom.
I’m ashamed to say that too often when God would make it clear that it was His will for me to move into a new area or take a step of faith or do something that I didn’t think I could do, my response would be “Can’t I just get married so my husband can do it?”
For awhile God would just say “No” and then help me do whatever it was He wanted me to do.
Yet, more recently during one of these statements, God very clearly and very firmly revealed to me that it was time for this line of questioning to stop.
I hope that I never forget the day that the Holy Spirit said to me, “What if God isn’t calling you to be a Ruth, but instead He’s calling you to be a Deborah? An Esther? Or a Jael?”
Uh, excuse me???
I mean I knew EXACTLY what the Holy Spirit was saying.
All of my life I’ve been a big fan of the story of Ruth. I mean who isn’t?
A godly woman in a desperate situation is saved when God sends Boaz to the rescue. Like a fairy tale, from starving peasant to prominent wife and mother, the book of Ruth ends with the happily ever after legacy of King David. It’s an epic story for the ages.
Deep inside of all women, I think there’s a part of us that longs to be Ruth (or Cinderella).
Yet at this moment, the Holy Spirit shocked me when He asked, “What if instead of God sending a Prince to rescue you, God’s plan is for you to rise up and be the Princess Warrior who finds her strength in Jesus, bravely fights the battle and wins the victory?”
Honestly, the concept made me shake in my sandals.
Then the Holy Spirit led me through a Bible study of all the brave women in the Bible and showed me that God really is no respecter of persons. It isn’t necessarily His will for you to spend your life waiting around for a man to come and carry you off to happily ever after.
Instead God wants you to soar now.
Soar in His power
Soar in your relationship with Him.
Soar into your purpose and destiny and the plan that He has for your life that only you can fulfill.
That doesn’t mean you’ll never get married….but what it means is that marriage isn’t the goal.
While you’re single, God wants you to soar.
If you ever marry, God will want you to soar.
You weren’t created to be rescued, but to be God’s strong, capable, brave, empowered daughter who fulfills God’s destiny for your life, no matter what your relationship status.
Seriously, when we grasp hold of and truly embrace this concept….that you are 100% completely empowered to be a complete woman with a complete purpose right now.....this is when we begin to soar.
