Have you ever walked into a room and felt like you had to shrink to fit? Like your presence was either too much or not enough? I have. And I’ve spoken to enough women to know I am not alone.
The answer to that feeling is older than any conversation we are currently having about women. It takes us all the way back to the Garden of Eden, where God looked at everything He had made and then looked again and said something was missing.
That missing thing was a woman. Not as an afterthought. Not as a lesser version of what had already been made. But as the finishing touch. The one whose presence would make something whole that could not be whole without her.
We have moved so far from that moment. It is time we found our way back.
THE WAR WE WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO FIGHT
Let me say this gently but clearly: the spirit of competition between men and women is not a sign of women’s strength. It is a sign that both have lost sight of their God-given identity. When a man does not know who he is, he is either domineering or disappears. When a woman does not know who she is, she either shrinks or enters into strife. Neither reflects God’s original design.
What we need is not a competition. What we need is a restoration. God created man and woman for partnership, the kind Scripture describes in Ecclesiastes 4:9–10: “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow.” A man’s strength and a woman’s strength are not in conflict. They are complementary. Together they accomplish what neither could accomplish alone.
GOING BACK TO THE BEGINNING
In Genesis 2:18, God said, “I will make him an help meet for him.” Somewhere along the way, helpmeet became an insult. But the Hebrew word is ezer, the same word used in Psalm 121:2: “My help cometh from the Lord.” God calls Himself our ezer. When He called woman to be a helpmeet, He was not calling her to be a servant. He was calling her to be a strength; a co-carrier of purpose.
That is not a small thing. That is everything.
That identity, strength, purpose, co-carrier, is not a concept to admire from a distance. It has a shape. It has always had your name on it.
Before the world told you who to be, God already decided. You are a W.O.M.A.N.
W — Worshipper. Her identity begins at the feet of God, not in comparison with anyone else. A woman who knows who she is before God does not compete; rather, she celebrates. Other women become sisters, not rivals.
O — Overseer. She is a steward of everything God has placed in her care. You can find her in the early morning reviewing the budget, checking on her team, making sure nothing entrusted to her is neglected. She does not wait for permission to manage what God has already given her.
M — Minister. Ministry is not only what happens behind a pulpit. It happens at a kitchen table, in a school corridor, or in a boardroom. A woman who understands her calling asks one question in every room she enters: who needs what I carry?
A — Ambassador. Wherever she goes, she represents something greater than herself. She carries the culture of heaven into every space, not aggressively, not apologetically, but purposefully and with grace.
N — Nurturer. Let me reclaim this word. A Nurturer is not weak. She carries the God-given capacity to build life in people, in homes, and in communities. That is not a limitation. It is a superpower.
When women return to God’s original design (fully achievable only when the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, returns), something shifts not just in women but in everything around them. Men are invited back to their identity. The competition dissolves. The partnership becomes possible.
You do not have to fight for a space that was always yours. You are a Worshipper, an Overseer, a Minister, an Ambassador, a Nurturer. The world and the Kingdom need you to show up as all of that.
Not louder. Not smaller. Just fully, faithfully, fearlessly how God desires you to be.
Samantha Russell is a speaker, certified health and wellness coach, and founder of Women Who Pray prayer ministry. In her downtime, she swops out her heels for farmer’s boots and her pen for transplanting seedlings for sale.