We, as a culture, love any story of strength, courage, determination, and integrity. Stories of the “underdog” tend to pull on our heartstrings all the more as we lean in closer to hear how the storyline will play out. The harder the obstacle, the more we relish in the beauty of the story unfolding. We want to see strength in the making.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month we remember the groundbreaking achievements of women throughout history. Whether it be Amelia Earhart and her incredible journey in aviation, Harriet Tubman and her unrelenting determination to foster the Underground Railroad, the “code girls” of World War II, Elisabeth Elliott and her willingness to stay in Ecuador to share the love of Jesus with the same people who killed her husband, or Corrie ten Boom and her unquenchable faith in the face of pure evil, these women, and so many more, demonstrated true strength as they faced difficulty head-on with a resolve to persevere.
And while these women and countless more are worthy of our admiration, each of us has the ability to tap into those same character traits on a daily basis. You may be currently working at your dream job, or you may be on the other end of the spectrum living what feels to be a mundane life. The beauty is that whatever position you find yourself in at this moment, you have the ability to demonstrate strength and be an influence to those placed in your “circle”.
Perhaps you are a student seeking to discover what role you may play in your lifetime, a businesswoman with thriving job opportunities, a mom with young children, a military spouse waiting on the next assignment or for your soldier to come home, or an older woman with years of wisdom to offer. All stages of life offer us trials and hardship, as well as opportunities to make a difference. Our story may not become famous or well-known, but those who surround us will be better because we were willing to embrace challenge and cultivate strength in our lives.
The women I mentioned above all experienced extreme hardship and difficulty in one aspect or another. As it says in Romans 5, difficulty allows us to develop endurance, and endurance produces character, and character strengthens our hope of salvation. No matter the season, the root of greatness is your character. And once our character is developed, it points us back to the One who created us.
