Sister... Carry Your God.

The session was intense, the atmosphere electric, and our mother was in her element. Gone was the soft and gracious voice of the nurturer. Here was the roar of a lioness among her cubs, teaching them how to roar like herself.

The message that day was simple:

“Daughters, know how to carry your God.”

The lesson was drawn from the Book of  1Kings 11:1–4, concerning the foreign women whom Solomon loved.

“But King Solomon loved many strange women… of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, ‘Ye shall not go in to them… for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.’…

And it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods.” (1 Kings 11:1–4)

Not much is said about these women except that when they came to Israel and to Solomon, they came with their own gods. The influence they carried was so strong that even Solomon—the wisest king in Israel—was turned away from the Lord.

These women carried their priestly covenants with them. Wherever they went, they carried their gods. They influenced through their gods, and their gods influenced through them.

A careful study of Scripture reveals something ancient women understood that many modern women seem to have forgotten.

When we read in Book of Genesis the account of Rachel, we find that when she left her father’s house to marry Jacob, she carried her father’s household gods with her.

“Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s.” (Genesis 31:19)

So strong was the impression of those deities upon her spirituality that when she left her father's land, she carried them along. Yet she was not the only one. Later, when God instructed Jacob to return to Bethel and build an altar, Jacob commanded his household to put away the strange gods among them.

“Then Jacob said unto his household… ‘Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean… and let us arise, and go up to Bethel.’” (Genesis 35:2–3)

This suggests something important: the people, women included who came with Jacob had not come empty. They too had come carrying their gods.

Another example of such influence is seen in Ahab and his wife Jezebel.

“And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam… that he took to wife Jezebel… and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.” (1 Kings 16:31)

Ahab’s kingship became an abomination before God because the woman he married came with her gods and led an entire nation away from the Lord. Such is the power of a woman who knows how to carry her god.

Scripture also shows the opposite—a woman who carried the true God.

Consider the little maid in the house of Naaman.

“And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.

And she said unto her mistress, ‘Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.’”

(2 Kings 5:2–3)

Though she had been taken captive into Syria as a slave, the girl carried her God with her. When Naaman was struck with leprosy, it was this little girl who changed the course of events. Because of her testimony, Naaman eventually encountered the power of God and was healed. Naaman came out not only healed, but transformed because of the influence of an unnamed girl who knew how to carry her God.

Shall we also speak of Deborah and Jael?

“And Deborah, a prophetess… she judged Israel at that time.”

Judges 4:4

Through Deborah’s communion with God, Israel received divine strategy for victory.

And when the enemy commander fled, it was Jael who delivered the final blow.

“Then Jael… took a nail of the tent… and smote the nail into his temples.”

Judges 4:21

These were warrior women who delivered Israel from great oppression and servitude. 

Again and again, Scripture is replete with examples of women who changed situations because they knew how to carry their God.

Behind the curtain of normal life, a battle rages hot and fierce. Do not be deceived by the casual patina of the world around you.

Sister, in all your knowing, learn this one thing:

Know how to carry your God.

Shalom.