Do you know there is an Adam inside each mADAM? There is a 'man' lurking inside each woMAN? Most women experience a feeling of resentment for not being born as a man sometime or other in their lives. Why? A feeling that “she” is less than “he” indwells women. She thinks she has to do what a man does to be of any worth. She battles deeply ingrained feelings of inferiority. How did a woman get into this rut? Let’s get to the bottom of the problem to find out the reason for this gnawing feeling inside and how to get it out.
CREATION OF WOMAN
God made man for His own companionship, but what was the real need for making a woman? In Genesis 2:17 God gave the command to man. Immediately afterwards in the next verse God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (2:18). God felt it was too serious a command and man should not be expected to tackle the temptation alone.
The Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete. This Greek word means, “One who stands alongside as a comforter or helper.” This same word is used in Genesis chapter 2 to denote helper. It is with this idea that God created woman. What a noble calling!
God made man in His image and God made woman in His image. Then why are they so different? God put some of His qualities in man – the strictness of the father, muscle power, leadership qualities etc. He gave His other side to the woman – compassion, sensitivity, gentleness, etc. So man is God’s image and woman is God’s image. When they become one flesh they reflect the whole image of God.
WHY INFERIORITY COMPLEX?
Immediately after their marriage, Satan entered the beautiful scene and approached the woman. He cunningly put the idea into her mind that her eyes were not really open and that her knowledge was deficient. So it is Satan who sowed inferiority complex in the woman’s heart.
Eve was blessed with a beautiful garden and excellent fruits including the fruit of the tree of life. But when God said ‘No’ to one fruit, it became very attractive. The Tree of Life wasn’t attractive to her. When God tells us not to do something, we covet it. She could have enjoyed all the given privileges instead she set her eyes on the No No thing.
Today we do the same thing. Instead of enjoying all that God has given us we overstep our line. This makes us whimper, “Why should I alone cook and clean and take care of the baby? Why can’t he also do?” The Bible admonishes women to be keepers at home. But women are saying, “Both of us will work, cook, wash dishes.” I am not saying husbands should not help, but the primary duty at home lies with the woman. All this emphasis on equality has thrown the family dynamics out of whack.
Whenever Satan sees a woman, he sees her as a threat to his existence - that somebody coming through her would annihilate him. So woman has become his arch enemy.
Now do you understand why women face more problems? Not only before the cross, even after the cross whenever a woman brings forth Jesus Christ to the world (proclaiming the Good news) Satan knows that it spells doom
to him. That’s why he keeps tempting her and taunting her in every way. One way of taunting her is to keep telling her that she is inferior to man and she is useless till she believes it and tries to become a man. Thus he makes us ineffective by making us do something God never intended.
SOME EXAMPLES
Take for example Miriam. How did Satan succeed in pushing her down? He told her, “Poor Miriam, are you not equal to Moses? Did not God speak through you also?” Miriam fell for it and believed she was equal to Moses (Num 12).
Satan told Athaliah, “You can rule, you can have authority in your hands. You can do anything to achieve your ambitions – kill your children, murder your grandchildren.” Behind her authority façade there was insecurity. This is why Athaliah murdered and desperately wanted to be a man and ended pathetically. She didn’t know her calling as a woman and if she knew she didn’t want to accept it. She drew her own plans for her life but failed miserably. Dear lady, if you can identify yourself with Athaliah clean up the mess in your life (2 Ki 11).
ACCEPTING WOMANHOOD JOYFULLY
I remember how crazy I was to do B.D.(Bachelor of Divinity). I studied for hours on end. My little daughter would come, “Mommie, mommie, mommie” and I would respond , “Go, go and play. Don’t disturb me” and watch the light go out of her eyes. At one point I realized I was killing my own daughter. I realized I didn’t need B.D. Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that women should not do B.D. I am saying that you should not bite off more than what you can chew. Just don’t overdo. It is the ‘Lose a fortune, gain a life’ philosophy. You have to decide what’s important.
This is what happens to women when they think something else is more important than their family. We make our children feel guilty for being born in this world. Beware, lest Satan misguide you. God has called you to be a woman.
Do you accept your womanhood joyfully? If we don’t accept our sexuality happily there will be lot of conflicts in our life.
A woman must be doubly cautious in finding God’s will because neglecting the family and earning money may appear lucrative to a woman who is sinking in inferiority complex. I appreciate women holding jobs. But I am surprised why very few consider or even pray for the option of being a housewife. We have a responsibility to restore some sanity to the situation.
THE POTTER AND THE CLAY
Peter calls women as “Weaker vessels” (I Pet 3:7). She can be easily broken. You are the one who cries at home, right? Let’s come to 2 Corinthians 4:4-7. It fits women aptly because we are unmistakably jars of clay. If you read from verse one we will know what this treasure in earthen jars is. “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us”(vv1-7). The treasure is the knowledge of God and the Goodnews inside the weaker vessels.
In Isaiah 29:16 the clay takes the potter ’s place. We make things ‘ulta.’ “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it: ‘He did not make me?’ Can the pot say to the potter: ‘He knows nothing’”? Do you say to God, “Why did you make me a woman? You know nothing Lord”?
That’s why I call you to Isaiah 41:25 last line, “…a potter treading the clay.” To make the clay useful the potter tramples on the clay and stamps on it to feel any stone under his sole. He removes stones and continues to pound it with his feet till it becomes soft, pliable, and mouldable. If it has life it will cry, “Enough, enough potter, please leave me.” But he continues till he thinks the clay is useable. He says, “Come on you clay, shut up. Unless I put you through this cruel experience, you can’t be useful in my hands.”
QUARELLING WITH OUR MAKER
Let’s see what more Isaiah has to say about the potter – “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands?’ Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’ This is what the Lord says – The Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question Me about My children, or give Me orders about the work of My hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it” (Is 45:9-12). A broken pot is lying in shards on the floor. One tiny bit is talking against its maker. How do feel about it? Does it have any right to do so? God is our father and mother. Can we ask Him, ‘What have you brought forth?’ The God who created heaven and earth has created us as women. Amazing grace!
ANOTHER CHANCE
Let’s see Jeremiah’s contribution to the potter discussion. “The pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him” (18:1-4). I think the clay did not cooperate. But God did not give up. God does not give up on anybody. He gives you another chance. He is the God of chances. He keeps giving you chances all the time. So, if you are marred, even if you are “bad” even if you have gone off tangent, God doesn’t throw you off. He can make you into another pot, shaping you as seems best to Him.
THE KITCHEN VESSEL
Refer to what Paul says in Romans 9:20, 21 about the clay and the potter: Who are you O woman, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed her: Why did You make me like this? Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? He makes a flower vase for the king’s table and another one for kitchen use.
I Corinthians1:26-29: Sisters, “think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.” 2Timothy 2:20,21: “In a great house are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses herself from the latter, she will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” From the above passages it is clear that we don’t have to be a gold vessel for an honorable job. But we have to be a clean vessel, useful for the Master.
Now, am I happy I’m a mud pot in the kitchen, a woman chosen by God to glorify His name! God says, “I don’t want these grand vessels. If I use them they will boast and think it is they who accomplished great things. Bring Me the one in the kitchen. If I use it I will get all the glory.”
PRAISE GOD I AM WEAK!
Paul was given a messenger of Satan to torment him. We also may experience this buffeting by Satan. But God says, ‘Don’t worry. I know you are a weak woman. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.’ We can boast of being a woman so that God’s power will rest on us. We can delight in our weakness. For when we are weak, then we are strong (2 Cor 12:7-12).
ENJOYING WOMANHOOD
Womanhood is a goose full of golden eggs. Don’t kill it. Women have strengths that men do not have. So let’s find out our strengths. Enjoy being a woman – single or married. Enjoy life with your husband. Sing when you are pregnant. I know ladies who lament, “When will this be over? When will I go to work? This baby has thrown my life out of gear.” Don’t do that. Enjoy your pregnancy. That is the time to sing and praise God because He is giving you a child who is going to crush the head of Satan. Then you dance and enjoy the child. That is womanliness. Their growing up years will be over all too soon. Nowadays women are so wrapped up in their own busy schedules that they cannot give the vital nurturance a child needs. Don’t throw them off to maids. Enjoy your grandchildren. Earlier it used to be working mothers. Now it is working grandmothers. This is a generation that has no time to hug and kiss
their children. An entire generation of kids will pay a terrible price for it. Enjoy cooking. Disengage yourself from the toxic feeling that it is drudgery, the moment you feel it wrapping around you.
Mary was a blessed woman. Jael was blessed woman. The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 was a blessed woman. You too can be a blessed woman.
God has made us women because He has something special for us. God is using us in many ways. God “planned” to make a woman. She was not an accident. Woman is Satan’s target. He will call you inferior and stupid. Don’t believe his lies. Many women have believed Satan’s lies and lost the blessings of womanhood. Your commitment to womanhood will pay off in the end.
HALLELUJAH I’M A WOMAN
The institution of the family is likely to undergo some revolutionary changes in the days ahead if we start enjoying our womanliness. And you know what? Men are going to become brides in the last day!
A PRAYER:
“Heavenly Father, we thank You Lord for making us women. We shout hallelujah! Thank you Lord because in Your wisdom You made us women. How lovely Lord it is to be a woman. We bless you Lord for this privilege and honor. In Jesus’ name we praise You. Amen.”
Dr. Lilian Stanley
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91 9843511943
lilianstanley@gmail.com
Blessing Youth Mission
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91-416-2242943, +91-416-2248943
hq@bymonline.org
www.bymonline.org
Click here for more options
To buy books written by Dr. Lilian Stanley, kindly reach to us in the follwing address
Blessing Literature Centre
21/11 West Coovam River Road,
Chintadripet,
Chennai 600 002, India.
+91-44-28450411, 8806270699
blc@bymonline.org
Do you know there is an Adam inside each mADAM? There is a 'man' lurking inside each woMAN? Most women experience a feeling of resentment for not being born as a man sometime or other in their lives. Why? A feeling that “she” is less than “he” indwells women. She thinks she has to do what a man does to be of any worth. She battles deeply ingrained feelings of inferiority. How did a woman get into this rut? Let’s get to the bottom of the problem to find out the reason for this gnawing feeling inside and how to get it out.
CREATION OF WOMAN
God made man for His own companionship, but what was the real need for making a woman? In Genesis 2:17 God gave the command to man. Immediately afterwards in the next verse God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (2:18). God felt it was too serious a command and man should not be expected to tackle the temptation alone.
The Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete. This Greek word means, “One who stands alongside as a comforter or helper.” This same word is used in Genesis chapter 2 to denote helper. It is with this idea that God created woman. What a noble calling!
God made man in His image and God made woman in His image. Then why are they so different? God put some of His qualities in man – the strictness of the father, muscle power, leadership qualities etc. He gave His other side to the woman – compassion, sensitivity, gentleness, etc. So man is God’s image and woman is God’s image. When they become one flesh they reflect the whole image of God.
WHY INFERIORITY COMPLEX?
Immediately after their marriage, Satan entered the beautiful scene and approached the woman. He cunningly put the idea into her mind that her eyes were not really open and that her knowledge was deficient. So it is Satan who sowed inferiority complex in the woman’s heart.
Eve was blessed with a beautiful garden and excellent fruits including the fruit of the tree of life. But when God said ‘No’ to one fruit, it became very attractive. The Tree of Life wasn’t attractive to her. When God tells us not to do something, we covet it. She could have enjoyed all the given privileges instead she set her eyes on the No No thing.
Today we do the same thing. Instead of enjoying all that God has given us we overstep our line. This makes us whimper, “Why should I alone cook and clean and take care of the baby? Why can’t he also do?” The Bible admonishes women to be keepers at home. But women are saying, “Both of us will work, cook, wash dishes.” I am not saying husbands should not help, but the primary duty at home lies with the woman. All this emphasis on equality has thrown the family dynamics out of whack.
Whenever Satan sees a woman, he sees her as a threat to his existence - that somebody coming through her would annihilate him. So woman has become his arch enemy.
Now do you understand why women face more problems? Not only before the cross, even after the cross whenever a woman brings forth Jesus Christ to the world (proclaiming the Good news) Satan knows that it spells doom
to him. That’s why he keeps tempting her and taunting her in every way. One way of taunting her is to keep telling her that she is inferior to man and she is useless till she believes it and tries to become a man. Thus he makes us ineffective by making us do something God never intended.
SOME EXAMPLES
Take for example Miriam. How did Satan succeed in pushing her down? He told her, “Poor Miriam, are you not equal to Moses? Did not God speak through you also?” Miriam fell for it and believed she was equal to Moses (Num 12).
Satan told Athaliah, “You can rule, you can have authority in your hands. You can do anything to achieve your ambitions – kill your children, murder your grandchildren.” Behind her authority façade there was insecurity. This is why Athaliah murdered and desperately wanted to be a man and ended pathetically. She didn’t know her calling as a woman and if she knew she didn’t want to accept it. She drew her own plans for her life but failed miserably. Dear lady, if you can identify yourself with Athaliah clean up the mess in your life (2 Ki 11).
ACCEPTING WOMANHOOD JOYFULLY
I remember how crazy I was to do B.D.(Bachelor of Divinity). I studied for hours on end. My little daughter would come, “Mommie, mommie, mommie” and I would respond , “Go, go and play. Don’t disturb me” and watch the light go out of her eyes. At one point I realized I was killing my own daughter. I realized I didn’t need B.D. Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that women should not do B.D. I am saying that you should not bite off more than what you can chew. Just don’t overdo. It is the ‘Lose a fortune, gain a life’ philosophy. You have to decide what’s important.
This is what happens to women when they think something else is more important than their family. We make our children feel guilty for being born in this world. Beware, lest Satan misguide you. God has called you to be a woman.
Do you accept your womanhood joyfully? If we don’t accept our sexuality happily there will be lot of conflicts in our life.
A woman must be doubly cautious in finding God’s will because neglecting the family and earning money may appear lucrative to a woman who is sinking in inferiority complex. I appreciate women holding jobs. But I am surprised why very few consider or even pray for the option of being a housewife. We have a responsibility to restore some sanity to the situation.
THE POTTER AND THE CLAY
Peter calls women as “Weaker vessels” (I Pet 3:7). She can be easily broken. You are the one who cries at home, right? Let’s come to 2 Corinthians 4:4-7. It fits women aptly because we are unmistakably jars of clay. If you read from verse one we will know what this treasure in earthen jars is. “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us”(vv1-7). The treasure is the knowledge of God and the Goodnews inside the weaker vessels.
In Isaiah 29:16 the clay takes the potter ’s place. We make things ‘ulta.’ “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it: ‘He did not make me?’ Can the pot say to the potter: ‘He knows nothing’”? Do you say to God, “Why did you make me a woman? You know nothing Lord”?
That’s why I call you to Isaiah 41:25 last line, “…a potter treading the clay.” To make the clay useful the potter tramples on the clay and stamps on it to feel any stone under his sole. He removes stones and continues to pound it with his feet till it becomes soft, pliable, and mouldable. If it has life it will cry, “Enough, enough potter, please leave me.” But he continues till he thinks the clay is useable. He says, “Come on you clay, shut up. Unless I put you through this cruel experience, you can’t be useful in my hands.”
QUARELLING WITH OUR MAKER
Let’s see what more Isaiah has to say about the potter – “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands?’ Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’ This is what the Lord says – The Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question Me about My children, or give Me orders about the work of My hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it” (Is 45:9-12). A broken pot is lying in shards on the floor. One tiny bit is talking against its maker. How do feel about it? Does it have any right to do so? God is our father and mother. Can we ask Him, ‘What have you brought forth?’ The God who created heaven and earth has created us as women. Amazing grace!
ANOTHER CHANCE
Let’s see Jeremiah’s contribution to the potter discussion. “The pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him” (18:1-4). I think the clay did not cooperate. But God did not give up. God does not give up on anybody. He gives you another chance. He is the God of chances. He keeps giving you chances all the time. So, if you are marred, even if you are “bad” even if you have gone off tangent, God doesn’t throw you off. He can make you into another pot, shaping you as seems best to Him.
THE KITCHEN VESSEL
Refer to what Paul says in Romans 9:20, 21 about the clay and the potter: Who are you O woman, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed her: Why did You make me like this? Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? He makes a flower vase for the king’s table and another one for kitchen use.
I Corinthians1:26-29: Sisters, “think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.” 2Timothy 2:20,21: “In a great house are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses herself from the latter, she will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” From the above passages it is clear that we don’t have to be a gold vessel for an honorable job. But we have to be a clean vessel, useful for the Master.
Now, am I happy I’m a mud pot in the kitchen, a woman chosen by God to glorify His name! God says, “I don’t want these grand vessels. If I use them they will boast and think it is they who accomplished great things. Bring Me the one in the kitchen. If I use it I will get all the glory.”
PRAISE GOD I AM WEAK!
Paul was given a messenger of Satan to torment him. We also may experience this buffeting by Satan. But God says, ‘Don’t worry. I know you are a weak woman. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.’ We can boast of being a woman so that God’s power will rest on us. We can delight in our weakness. For when we are weak, then we are strong (2 Cor 12:7-12).
ENJOYING WOMANHOOD
Womanhood is a goose full of golden eggs. Don’t kill it. Women have strengths that men do not have. So let’s find out our strengths. Enjoy being a woman – single or married. Enjoy life with your husband. Sing when you are pregnant. I know ladies who lament, “When will this be over? When will I go to work? This baby has thrown my life out of gear.” Don’t do that. Enjoy your pregnancy. That is the time to sing and praise God because He is giving you a child who is going to crush the head of Satan. Then you dance and enjoy the child. That is womanliness. Their growing up years will be over all too soon. Nowadays women are so wrapped up in their own busy schedules that they cannot give the vital nurturance a child needs. Don’t throw them off to maids. Enjoy your grandchildren. Earlier it used to be working mothers. Now it is working grandmothers. This is a generation that has no time to hug and kiss
their children. An entire generation of kids will pay a terrible price for it. Enjoy cooking. Disengage yourself from the toxic feeling that it is drudgery, the moment you feel it wrapping around you.
Mary was a blessed woman. Jael was blessed woman. The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 was a blessed woman. You too can be a blessed woman.
God has made us women because He has something special for us. God is using us in many ways. God “planned” to make a woman. She was not an accident. Woman is Satan’s target. He will call you inferior and stupid. Don’t believe his lies. Many women have believed Satan’s lies and lost the blessings of womanhood. Your commitment to womanhood will pay off in the end.
HALLELUJAH I’M A WOMAN
The institution of the family is likely to undergo some revolutionary changes in the days ahead if we start enjoying our womanliness. And you know what? Men are going to become brides in the last day!
A PRAYER:
“Heavenly Father, we thank You Lord for making us women. We shout hallelujah! Thank you Lord because in Your wisdom You made us women. How lovely Lord it is to be a woman. We bless you Lord for this privilege and honor. In Jesus’ name we praise You. Amen.”
Dr. Lilian Stanley
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91 9843511943
lilianstanley@gmail.com
Blessing Youth Mission
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91-416-2242943, +91-416-2248943
hq@bymonline.org
www.bymonline.org
Click here for more options
To buy books written by Dr. Lilian Stanley, kindly reach to us in the follwing address
Blessing Literature Centre
21/11 West Coovam River Road,
Chintadripet,
Chennai 600 002, India.
+91-44-28450411, Mob:8806270699
blc@bymonline.org
