Created for a Purpose

Over the course of the last few months, I have been attempting to complete a one word bible study of Proverbs 16:24 "Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." My intention was to ponder a word for a day and then write about it, but some of these words have taken me a long time to process what the Father was teaching me. The last word in this verse is "bones". I love the image I see when I think about this word, because I see "bones" as our structure, or the way that we are built.

 The Father began showing me more specifically how he formed his daughters by taking a bone from his son and making it into a woman. Genesis 2:22-23 says, "And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made (meaning built in Hebrew) into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'"

I have the amazing opportunity to work to be in community with many wonderful women ranging in age from high school to college to young professionals, and I am consistently blown away with the Father's heart for His daughters and all of the desires that He places on our hearts as women. So much of these desires can be found in the story of creation.

In these verses and the verses leading up to the creation of woman, there is so much purpose in the Father's plan. First, He has Adam name "every living creature" and showing Adam that none of these living creatures are suitable as a helper for him. Then, the Father puts Adam to sleep and takes a rib (bone) from Adam to build a woman.Our Father in heaven created us, His daughters. He formed us and structured us perfectly. I am constantly talking to women about our struggles to find our purpose and searching for our identities, but the Father has shown us our purpose all along. He has built each one of us. He has created in us a desire to be loved by Him. He is continuously pursuing our hearts and our purpose and identity are to be found in Him. We are daughters of the King.

But he also created another structure when he created women. He created the relationship structure between Man, Woman, and Himself. In Genesis 2:18, God says" It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a helper fit four him." God tells Adam that it is not good for him to be alone, and after God created woman, He woke Adam up. God brings Eve to Adam, and he realizes that this living creature is "bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh." Adam realizes that Eve is to be his helper and in Genesis 2:24 it says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh." God creates the structure of relationship between Man and Women.

So ladies, we must remember that we are created for a purpose and our identity is in Him. Remember that the Father pursues our hearts constantly and that we are worthy of a man who will pursue us and who will lead us.

Remember that we are called to be a helper. We are called to be a companion. We are also called into community with others. God doesn't want us to be alone, but I think the Father calls us to use gracious words in our friendships and our relationships. They are sweet to the soul and healing to the bones that he has used to build us.We should love each other and build each other up rather than break each other down. In the age of social media and constant pressure from the world to be perfect and look perfect and find your identity in how you look and what you wear and what you do and where you live, we must remember that we are made for community and we are called to be there for each other. We should hold each other accountable to finding our identity in the Father and listening when He pursues our hearts.

Ladies, we are also called to be helpers for our brothers in Christ. We are called to hold them accountable and look to them for leadership. As daughters of the King, we are called to support and love each other in all of our relationships and friendships. My prayer is that we would always remember our purpose and our identity and that the Father will get the glory in all of our relationships and all of our friendships.