I debated whether to end this chapter with powerful conquerors – boy, that is a great high to go out on.  Being grounded empowered conquerors enables us to revise how we live as working women and define success and worth.  But I would be remiss if I did not address two of the biggest challenges women face today.

First, the battle we fight daily about what the world says regarding our physical beauty.  Second, the constant struggle we have to find internal peace.  I may be alone in this warring ship, but even after I get past all of the messaging that the world rains down on me regarding what makes me a success, I still have two silly messages pummeling me with attacks that wound.

I am not pretty enough.  I should be thinner.  I should be tanner.  I should have better hair, eyes, nails, teeth, abs, thighs, and the list goes on.  My appearance on the outside is never good enough to measure up.  While this is not “technically” a measure of your professional success, it no doubt affects it.

And then there’s the worry.  I have to worry.  Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.  Since we all know I am in control of it all, if everything falls apart it is my fault.  Stress out.  There is not enough time.  There is not enough money.  There is not enough me.  This can cripple your ability to succeed on anyone’s scale, God or man’s, and can cripple your ability to live fulfilled and empowered.

These two messages (never being beautiful enough and needing to worry about everything that could happen), both of which don’t officially appear on the vicious cycle list of achievements and failures, are omnipresent.  They are also untrue. God says you are beautiful.  You are His handiwork created in His image.  If we could hear His whispers of beauty over your life, then maybe we wouldn’t be so all consumed with how we look every second of the day.

God also says that He offers peace.  You can rest.  Do not worry.  Do not trust for a moment the undercurrent in the vicious cycle that tells you that you are anything less than or that you should panic.  I canI worry about my worth, my job, my kids, my marriage, my finances, and everything in between and it can keep me UP nights.  God, a far more trustworthy advisor, tells us to stop. 

How do I know?

You ARE Beautiful:

Isaiah 62:3,5:  You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God….as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 61:2-3:  He has sent me …to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes…They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

I Peter 3:4:  It [your beauty] should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

Ephesians 2:10:  For we are God’s handiwork. 

Psalm 139:13-15:  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

You CAN have Peace:

John 14:27:  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Colossians 3:15:  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

Matthew 6:25-30:  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry.”

Isaiah 26:3,12:  You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.  Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.

Ezekiel 37: 26–27:   I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant.

Philippians 4: 6-7:  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Part 7!  Wow.  I can’t believe our study is nearing an end – if you’ve missed studying some of the names that God calls you, then you can click on the Bible Studies link on the right side to get caught up.  But now that we stand assured of our safety, as we saw last week, guess what?  We can take risks!  What an honor that God tells us as we step out with renewed confidence that we are powerful.

God promises you POWER – as He defines it.  If you think back, we started this series by highlighting that often our sense of self gets tangled in what the world defines as success, achievement, and power, and as a result we battle the ups and downs in self-esteem because of the uncertainty of our promotions and recognitions.  Much of the shallow success the world offers comes with the promise of power and influence.  How remarkable that God combats the short-lived power that comes with those achievements with a deep and abiding confident power through Him!

I am all about empowering women.  I have a career and a family and a community and friends.  I do not offer an old-fashioned sensibility about what is “appropriate” for women.  I  have no qualms teaching my precious daughter girl-power (just as I teach my amazing boys boy-power).  But that power MUST be rooted in something.  It cannot be power for power’s sake.  It can not be about piling up titles and tributes for the sake of accumulating power that is here today and gone tomorrow.  Power that has no eternal value.

Constant and real power is rooted in our faith and our relationship with God.  It is a power that means something, a power that gives us victory over self-doubt and worry and feelings of worthlessness.  Let’s make sure that every single woman out there knows how we take hold of an abiding and true power.  Hang on to it sister.  It’s a tough world.  That power is your life line.  You. Are. Powerful.

I know because He says so.  How do I know?

Ephesians 1:18-21:  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.

II Corinthians 12:9:  But he [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Philippians 4: 12-13:  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty…I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

II Chronicles 32:7-8:  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.  With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.”

Matthew 19:26:  Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

I Timothy 1:7:  For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Ephesians 6:10:  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

This may be somewhat of an odd label to call out in today’s We Are What He Calls Us, but after I’ve been writing about fear lately, I thought it worth highlighting.  Every woman may not have a craving for safety, but many of us do.  I do. There are all sorts of articles in circulation about the innate desire in a woman’s spirit for security.

This safety cannot be achieved with alarms and avoiding risk.  Real safety, security, and stability come from having a centered soul.  Having a house built upon a Rock.  Having a boat moored to an unmovable dock.

I mentioned in an earlier post that our hesitation to leave a situation where we can not fulfill our purpose may be the result of not wanting to leave our comfort zone.  I can become overwhelmed at the thought of leaving my safety net.  But if I reject using changeable and unreliable sources as my barometer of safety, things like people and jobs, then that fear disappears.  If I know I am safe because God tells me I am safe, then I do not need the uncertain things of this world to make me feel safe.

God says, in explicit language and implicit language, throughout the Bible that we are safe.  If you look around, you will probably find He demonstrates and provides for your safety in big and small ways every day.

You and I are safe in His arms – in the shelter of the Almighty.  How do I know?

Psalm 36: 6-7:  You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!  People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Genesis 28:15:  I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Proverbs 3:23-24:  Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble.  When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Psalm 121:  I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord will keep you from all harm —he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

I am loving going back over these names God gives us over the course of our “spring” study, We Are What He Calls Us.  One of the most frustrating experiences in your life can be living in the vicious cycle of hounding success as defined by the world when you don’t even know what you are supposed to be doing.  You have a job.  You might even been incredibly good at your job (or career).  Yet you are unfulfilled.

You cannot walk away though because you are racking up prizes.  Rave reviews.  You are scaling up the rock wall for career rock stars, and you would be crazy to jump off now.  I mean look at the time and effort you have invested in obtaining all these achievements.

What I have experienced is that the cycle is addictive and leaving it could mean leaving “things” to which you have become accustomed.  It may mean leaving travel or luxury accommodations or a fancy office or an expansive wardrobe or an impressive title or lots of people reporting to you or the chance to speak in front of many or running an important project or company or money.  Maybe the most frightening thing you would have to leave is your comfort zone.  The safety of what you know.

This study is not about leaving your job.  In fact, it is primarily about finding satisfaction in Christ while you do your job instead of relying on a job to give you the affirmation you crave.  But it is worth at least a moment’s consideration that you might not be doing what you should be doing.  Your dissatisfaction with the ups and downs of your life may be more than pinning your entire emotional fulfillment on the world’s assessment of your merit on any given day.  It might be that you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing (regardless of how good you are at it).

You are destined for a specific purpose.  God created you with something unique in mind.  He created an ideal plan for our lives.  Nobody ever follows that ideal plan without error because we are human and we mess things up, but the good news is that the purpose is always there.  Waiting for you to claim it as your own.  Your specific purpose is the real prize to pursue.

You may, however, be in the exact right job for today.  I have held the right job and still suffered miserably because I based my self-worth on what people around me believed about whether I was worthy or not.  You and I are destined for a specific purpose, but even if we work in a place where that purpose can be achieved, we still must remember how God values us and calls us worthy and loved instead of relying on fickle opinions around us.

And if you are flailing today, confused about what to do or where to go, determined that there is no place for you, know that is not true.  There is a SPECIFIC place for you where you can achieve a specific purpose that God has had in mind for you all this time (Just soak up Ephesians 2 below – sit with it for a good long time.  Especially if you feel aimless today.)  God reminds us that He created us with a purpose in mind.  You and I have a specific purpose.  How do I know?

Ephesians 2: 10: For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

II Corinthians 5:5:   Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Jeremiah 29: 11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.