The Real Warrior Queen - outside the box

I always loved the Arthurian legends and British folklore. There is something about a time when fighting a war meant bravery and valor and hope was a matter of life or death that flicks a switch in me. There is a sweetness in a fight that matters.

But what I love more than anything is the presence of warrior women. Women who were full of courage, wise and strong, gentlehearted but roused to a quick fierceness that caused them to fight at their husbands' sides. Women who were not fickle, who were not princesses up in a tower somewhere hiding away from the battle to stay safe. They were beautiful women, intelligent women, bright and brave, not afraid of mice or spiders or chipping a fingernail.

Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I, Boudicca, Queen Jinga, Guinevere (most of the stories of her infidelity popped up in the 14th century, and were picked up on in the 19th century - both far too late to be cited as credible, so I disregard them). These were women who didn't stay home to bury their heads like ostriches, hoping that the worst wouldn't come. I once read a story about Guinevere, long before the latest Keira Knightley movie came out, that featured her as a woman in love with her husband - so much so that she fought at his side. Where he went, so did she; where he fought, she fought; where he rested, she rested. She made it her business to love what he loved to the point that his enemies became hers, and fighting at his side was of more value than saving her own life.

Joan Smith commented that there is little else in politics for women to be than a safe wife or a warrior queen. I contend that that is as true of Christianity (and any other field of interest to humanity) as it is of politics, but also that women can be both safe and warrior. And not just in the realm of marriage, but also in the realm of any relationship.

I think it's time for women to grow up. There's a lot of posturing and posing, a lot of false ideals and appearance consciousness, and I think it's time to go beyond that. Yes, men need to step up and be more lion-like, but women need to step up too. Everything is a risk, spiritually and physically. But I think it's time to stop praying "Jesus please won't you fight for me - oh, and while You're at it, Lord, could you please bind the devil for me and not let him hurt me?" I think it's time that we take hold of the authority He gave us and start being hands and feet. That means walking and it means learning to use weapons. I don't believe that this means that we will suddenly become less masculine, or that we will no longer be womanly or feminine. I don't think God intended us to be weak. He meant for us to be pure, and to be meek, and to be tender and gentle and merciful. But He also wanted us to be brave and good, wise and strong. We don't do ourselves or anyone else any favors by pretending that we can't do anything for ourselves. It reminds me of a song by Steven Delopoulos:

She opened her eyes to the One
He shined her with all of his glory
And the music above was a children’s choir...
The orchestra roared
And they bowed to the throne as if love was a sword.

If there is a battle that can't be won with the sword, it can be won with love. I think it's time that love became more than a fluffy feeling, more than the Nice Stuff That Means We Can Go To Heaven.

Want more lions in the church? Start roaring. Want more kingdom taken for heaven? Pick up some heavenly armour (see Ephesians for details on the full body armour). Want to be more involved in what the Lord is doing in the church and in the nations? Learn to fight at His side, as Guinevere fought at Arthur's.

"We're all just dust to glory" - and we need to start working for the Glorious One Himself.