It's tough being a woman...in a mean world

It's tough being a woman...in a mean world.

My mom and I are doing a study by Beth Moore (Esther) and she talks about the toughest things about being a woman. This one hit me hard..

It's tough being a woman...in a...mean world. The toughest part can be not getting mean with it. Goodness, we get many opportunities. I'm learning that I have to deal with my own mean streak every time it starts to come out. If I don't, "mean" won't just strike. "It will stick."

"Life sometimes isn't pretty. No matter how much we try, on this earth we still have pain. Instead of going ahead and feeling the pain, processing it before God, and letting Him heal us, sometimes we opt for a trade-in. We swap pain for anger because it's easier for a while, and boy can it be energizing! Soon mad turns to mean. Friends turn to enemies." ~Beth Moore

Sigh...none of us want this, right? I know I don't. As girls, this world can be mean. We have family who disown us. Friends who backstab us...and yet, the bible tells us to sit and take it. And that is usually our last resort. Many of us have at some point misjudged someone. One reason why we must take care not to spread gossip is because we can't control where our words will go. "Humans eat gossip like frogs eat flies."

The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips. Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart. ~Proverbs 18-7-8

"Gossip finds an easy ear because our human nature, let to itself, finds sick satisfaction in the deluded discovery that someone who seemed superior was inferior. We who have trusted Christ are partakers of a different nature (2 Peter 1:4). If we discern something evil or suspicious, God calls us to take our concerns to Him with deepest humility, intercede earnestly, and ask Him what-if anything-we should do. Yes, Scripture tells us to expose "fruitless deeds of darkness" (Eph 5:11), but all is conjecture until we're certain we're seeing darkness through the eyes of light."

Often we jump to accuse, wrong or shame someone. If our judgement proves right, our reaction is the best indicator if our hearts are equally right. If we are "smug", our hearts are wrong. If we are humble, our hearts are probably pure.

"Satan has a theory that he's banked his entire accuser's career on: Even the strong grow weak. True enough, but this, Beloved One, is also true: Even the weak grow strong if they set their minds to it."

If you look at the story of Esther (3:4) Mordecai didn't bash Haman, but he also didn't kneel down to him. Sometimes we are stuck in a place where we gossip or we "bow down" to the Haman's in our lives. They step all over us, and we let them. We don't stand against them with principal. The Lord's principal. We sometimes believe that "bowing down" is the only way, other then to slander someone. How did Mordecai resist temptation and stand firm? He responded out of his mind-set rather than his mood. His made-up mind was stronger then his mood. The sight of Haman didn't just hit Mordecai the wrong way one day when he was feeling so contentious that he refused to bow. Even on days where kneeling seemed easier than being harassed and embarrassed, Mordecai's made-up mind was stronger than his mood.

Sometimes you and I are simply our of sorts. Temptations come and we either just let them take over our minds because we are in the mood to sin. We can't just depend on a good mood to get us through. After all, no one can have great hair, the right outfit and the perfect guy. But I'll tell you what we can have: The power to overcome temptation. We need more than a mood. We need a mind-set.

"My beloved sister, may God be allowed to work such steadfastness of mind in you that "the bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days." (Deut 33:25)

*Check out Beth Moore's Study Esther.*