A WOMAN’S SECRET: PART 1

A WOMAN’S BLESSED SECRET—PART 1
     Admit it. As soon as you read the title of this essay, your eyes searched for the name of the author. Then you spied my name. Your deduction of my gender as male was correct. Under your breath, you muttered, “How could a man possibly know what a woman’s secret is?”
     There are plenty of things women keep secret about. Even at the threat of death, they will not divulge their age. Even at the threat of being cut off from their hairdresser, they will not divulge their weight. Threaten them with watching endless re-runs of ‘The A-Team,’ and they still won’t tell you how much they paid for their newest pair of shoes.
     Now, for the most interesting part: Most women don’t realize they possess this secret. It’s not information that popped up on the evening news, Oprah Winfrey, or “Days Of Our Lives.” This secret came into existence thousands of years ago, at the beginning of human history.
     The secret is found in Genesis 2:18: “Then the LORD GOD said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’ ”
     Focus on the word ‘helper.’ If you’re a woman, please stifle your screaming. I get it. All your life you’ve been conditioned to be your husband’s helper. Then a bright male (we know he’s bright because he figured out how to work the lever on his recliner) oafishly defined ‘helper’ as fixing his supper, scratching his back, and changing the oil in his pickup.
     The Hebrew word for ‘helper’ is ‘ezer.’ In its most basic sense, ezer means life-saver or rescuer. If a life guard at the beach had ‘ezer’ on his chest, that would be an apt application. If firemen rushing into burning buildings had ‘ezer’ emblazoned on their helmets, again, a correct depiction. When ‘ezer’ is used in the Old Testament, it is usually in reference to God in some way. Except for Eve. Makes her pretty special, huh?
     If a woman bringing a steaming four-course meal to her husband relaxing in his recliner—on second thought, let’s skip that. Except for this little fact: If God intended Eve to be Adam’s helper as in ‘servant,’ the Scripture would not read ‘ezer.’ Instead, it might read ‘eved,’ which means ‘servant.’
     So, ladies, let’s not speed by this truth like we’re on the way to Black Friday. When God created Eve, He put some special DNA within her—the DNA to be a life-saver, a rescuer. Every woman who has lived since Eve possesses this same special DNA.
     That’s a woman’s blessed secret.
     Then it all blew up. Blew up like an atom bomb on steroids. In the latter part of Genesis 3:16, God finishes His curse upon Eve for her sinfulness: “…yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
     The relationship between Adam and Eve went south in a hurry. All the way to Antarctica.
     The Hebrew word for ‘desire’ is ‘teshuqah.’ ‘Teshuqah’ means longing. In the context of the verse, desire has a negative consequence for Eve. Now instead of being Adam’s life-saver, Eve diminishes into a woman who simply longs for her husband’s attention, longs for his affection and love. But it works to the extreme. She desires it so much she wants to control him. Teshuqah is the same word used in Genesis 4:6 in which sin is described as desiring Cain in order to control him.
     Like ‘ezer,’ ‘teshuqah’ also becomes a part of every woman’s DNA. Sadly, it serves as a counter to Eve’s ‘ezer’ identity. In fact, Eve’s ‘ezer’ DNA is likely to disappear, or at least become inoperable.
     Does the man respond like a knight in shining armor astride a white steed rushing to rescue her? Hardly. More like a couch potato engrossed in the titillating battle between two curling teams, the Chicago Sloths and the Detroit Snails. Truth is, he pretty much ignores her. He’s just too busy with his own interests. After all, he puts food on the table, doesn’t he? Not literally, of course. That’s her job. But what more could a woman want? He’s certain if he just hangs on to the arms of his recliner long enough, she’ll come around.
     It seems hopeless. The relationship between her and her husband can never be what it could be. Unless…
     Unless he awakens out of his deep snore. Incredibly, it is he who holds the key to restoring her to ‘ezer.’ He truly has the opportunity to rescue her from ‘teshuqah’ and bring her back to her ‘ezer’ DNA. If he will choose that path, together they can build the strongest marriage, best friendship, most outstanding alliance possible, just as God desired for them.
     In Part 2, we’ll visit about this. Meanwhile, remember: Jesus’ yoke is easy when our relationships are living immersed in God’s wise commandments.