One question that can make women feel mixed feelings: anxious, embarrassed, proud, or judged, is “Are you working?”
Among Christians, this shouldn’t be the case, but sadly, many can attest to that. Single women may feel that they are missing out on their motherly calling if they work and think, “Shouldn’t I just not work?” Other women might be thought to be happy to forget about their husbands and children, and are too happy to have a career. However, as a working mother Even at home, you can also tend to feel judgment, whether it is reality or imagination, by other women who work. So to be more precise, these two types of women may feel the dilemma of whether to work at home or outside the home.
In this article, we will revisit the story of two women in leadership positions in government and the principles we can apply to our work or home.
Women Workers in Government
1. Ester
Esther’s service at court could relate to her current workplace in several ways:
- God uses the circumstances of our lives. Esther’s position gave her a unique opportunity to serve God. Mordecai’s position gave him a different opportunity. We must embrace the special opportunities we have. Instead of saying, “I would do something great for God if only I had the chance,” we should say, “Who knows, maybe it’s precisely for times like these that [I] get a position” (Ester 4:14).
- Our position can harm our spirituality. We may derive our worth and existence from our job positions. The higher our position, the greater the danger. If becoming CEO getting a permanent position or keeping a good job becomes so important that we forget our other identities, then we have lost ourselves.
Regardless of her position as queen, Esther is reminded of her true identity as a Jew by her uncle, Mordecai. That’s when we can see the practice of Jewish faith in Esther in praying and fasting when facing problems and longing for God’s intervention in the lives of her people.
Esther 4:13-17. So Mordecai sent this answer to Esther: “Don’t think, because you are in the king’s palace, only you will escape from all the Jews. Because even if you remain silent at this time, for the Jews, help and relief will also arise from other parties, and you and your family will perish. Who knows, maybe it’s for a moment like this that you get the position of queen.” So Esther sent this answer to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are in Shushan and fast for me; do not eat and do not drink for three days, either at night or during the day. I and my maids will also fast like that, and then I will go in before the king, even though it is against the law; if I have to die, let me die.” So Mordecai went and did exactly as Esther ordered him.
- Serving God requires a stake in position. Esther’s case is extreme. He might be killed if he risked his position by interfering, and he would be killed if he did not. Is our position safer than Esther’s? Don’t lose what is eternal to risk something you can’t defend. Believe that the work done in God’s service will not be in vain.
2. Queen of Sheba
The next woman is also famous, but details in the Bible are quite scanty. The Queen of Sheba is a most exotic and enigmatic woman; very different from the women of her time. She is the female ruler of a distant land, she is rich, and she seems to be completely independent from anyone. But what sets him apart is that he sets out on a journey to satisfy intellectual curiosity. She is a woman who loves wisdom and is willing to travel the world in search of it.
2 Chronicles 9:1. When the queen of Sheba heard the news about Solomon, she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue and with camels carrying spices, lots of gold, and precious stones to test Solomon with riddles. When he got to Solomon, he told him everything that was in his heart.
1 Kings 10:3. And Solomon answered all the queen’s questions; for the king, there is nothing hidden that he cannot answer for the queen.
The Queen has some doubts, but she is ready to find the truth. He sought truth from the God of Israel. We need to come to God and His word when we also doubt.
When was the last time you had a question or doubt that was difficult to answer? So when was the last time your curiosity pushed you to learn and keep learning? When was the last time you came to God seeking enlightenment found in God’s word?
1 Thessalonians 5:21. Test all things and hold fast the good.
Acts 17:11. The Jews of that city were kinder than the Jews of Thessalonica, for they accepted the word with all readiness and searched the Scriptures every day to find out whether all this was true.
The Queen of Sheba was impressed by Solomon’s intelligence, wisdom, and wealth and this caused her to turn to praise the God of all she saw:
1 Kings 10:9. Praise be to God, your God, who has pleased you so much that He has placed you on the throne of the kingdom of Israel! Because God loves the people of Israel forever, He has made you king to do justice and righteousness.
The daily life of a Christian woman will never look the same. But our hearts are actually trying to faithfully live the life God has given us, not the life we hope or desire.
Our work is not about us; it is not about making a name for ourselves with a great career or being superior because things are going well, done “right” or trying to “have it all.” We must remember that we serve Him whose name is above all things. And far better than making a name for ourselves, He writes our names in His book, not because we have a good job, but because we are His children.
So, work really hard. Do an incredibly good job. Support each other because women are not each other’s competitors. Christian women united will be greater than any exclusive group of women because of our shared attachment to Christ.
Reference:
Dodds, Abigail. “Every Woman’s Call to Work.” Desiring God, 13 Sept. 2016, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/every-womans-call-to-work.
Hayns, Clare. “The Queen of Sheba.” Consider the Lilies – Clare Hayns, 30 Mar. 2020, https://clarehayns.co.uk/2020/03/30/the-queen-of-sheba/.
Roberts, Mark. “Esther and Work.” Theology of Work, Theology of Work Project, 29 Sept. 2010, https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/ezra-nehemiah-esther/esther.
