Warrior of Eden: How Curiosity and Questions Lead to Understanding God's Call for WomenSample

An Irreplaceable Role

“I may be in the minority,” wrote a friend from college, “but I don’t want to fight. This idea we are supposed to be warriors doesn’t resonate with me. I want to care for someone, not do battle with them. What if ezer as warrior doesn’t fit me?”

We can wrongly assume warrior means “fighter,” as in “fighting against,” almost synonymous with “killer.” But women are also sustainers and nurturers of life. From pregnancy to elder care, we spend our whole lives fighting for life, one way or another. I can testify of fighting for my unborn child, fighting for my sick child, fighting for my wayward teenager, fighting for my husband’s heart, fighting for my parent’s life.

Helping, fighting, and warrioring can mean bold steps, advocation, tough love, and big risks. But warrioring can also mean intercessory prayer, unrelenting service, and quiet sacrifice. It can be a fierce kind of battle that asks for costly, consistent love. Our personalities, giftings, backgrounds, birth order, and culture all factor into how we offer help.

In other words, while not all warriors love to fight, this doesn’t mean they aren’t “in the fight.” Some of the best ezering I’ve ever seen has come from women who love prodigals—sons and daughters but also friends, parents, and siblings. This is relentless work: living your faith with integrity, extending grace, and allowing someone to face consequences. And the prayers—the endless prayers over every day and every risk. If prayers built visible muscles, these women would look like our fiercest soldiers.

How can we honor the quiet obedience of ezers? Women who are holding up the other plank for those they love? Who are staying in the fight when it’s easier to run away? Who are in over their heads and still not quitting?

Every ezer has a calling, an irreplaceable role; the Bible calls it “good works ordained in advance for her to do” (Ephesians 2:10). She was created with tenacity, loyalty, a willingness to sacrifice, and dreams. We have to do more than just make room for her; we must believe in her inherent value as we recognize that not one of us has to fit in a mold, follow a course, or imitate anyone other than Jesus.

What role does discernment play in a discussion of women as warriors? When have you had to fight on behalf of someone else?