BY JESSICA LANDMON
One thing that life has taught me over and over again is that we are better together. The Lord never intended for us to walk our Christian walk alone. When Jesus walked this earth, He most definitely spent time in solitude praying and listening to the will of His father, but He also spent a great deal of time building relationships with His disciples. They ate together, they travelled together, they learned together, they ministered together, and they even laughed together. They formed incredible bonds of trust and love.
So why aren’t we following Jesus’s model and doing likewise? Why do women find it so difficult to help other women find and walk out their calling? I think that deep down inside we are afraid that if we help another woman walk in her destiny that it somehow will keep us from walking into ours. Stop and think about that statement for a minute as we reflect on this passage of scripture.
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. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. – Psalm 139:13-16
Before we were born, God assigned a destiny specific to each of our lives. Hear my heart in this, helping another woman find her role in the Kingdom does not take your spot away from you, it only helps that woman find hers. This kind of support and loyalty only pleases the Lord.
Let’s take a look at Ruth and Naomi’s relationship. Ruth could have easily returned to her family after her husband died, but instead resolved in her heart to stand by Naomi. Ruth understood that there was strength in numbers. She knew that she could do it alone, but there was value in sisterhood. She knew that she and Naomi were better together.
Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. – Ruth 1:16
In return for Ruth’s loyalty, Naomi deposited wisdom and strategy into Ruth’s life that set her up to be an integral part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. Naomi wasn’t looking out for herself, worrying that if she helped Ruth that it might somehow take something away from her. But rather, she recognized what her role was in Kingdom purposes and gladly helped Ruth find her role too.
Ruth had Naomi. Who do you have? Is there a woman in your life giving you Godly wisdom? Is there someone helping you navigate the uncertainties of life? Is there a woman who loves you unconditionally and only wants you to succeed? I hope so. But if not, you need to find that woman, because ladies, we are better together.