Man vs Woman?

We have been watching the Olympics today and I am yet again struck by the differences of men and women -and yet, the lines are so easily blurred.  I couldnt find any sport where there is not a "mens" as well as a "womens".  It used to be that sporting events were one area where the differences between men and women were apparent.  Not any more. 

The one that surprised me the most was the Womens Weight Lifting.  I am told that there has been a womens category for a long time but I just heard of it yesterday.  One of the favorites to win the US this year is a woman from our area.  I cant explain why, but it made me sad watching an interview with her.  There was very little "feminine" about her and if you didnt know she was a "champion weight lifter", you would think her weight and appearance were unhealthy.  I kept thinking to myself, "why would a woman even want to do that??"

I'll confess that it has always bothered me the way women have been pushing into "mens" sports.  Not that we cant play those sports -many women can play them as well or better than men.  That isnt the point.  Men were built for the strength required for such things as weight lifting and were created with a built-in desire to conquer (hockey anyone?).  And what is so wrong with an all-mens event such as the Masters in golf.  Ironic that we dont see men whining, complaining and crying "unfair" that they arent allowed to play on the womens teams. 

While it may seem like a gross generalization, women were indeed created differently than men and with that comes a different set of created roles and abilities.  It is woman that was created to give support to and help man in the garden.  And it was woman that was then given the additional job of birthing, nurturing and raising children.  From those basic roles, we grow into our own unique persons with unique giftings and callings. 

I tried a concordance search for "woman" and "women" -thinking I could quickly find a listing of descriptions used in Scripture to post.  Just the word "woman" gave me 35 pages of verses!  Scanning through them, I was easily able to see one thing...  "woman" can have either a negative connotation or a positive one.  And they are usually in extremes.  In Proverbs, a woman either builds her house or destroys it -there is no middle ground.  In Revelation, there is the woman riding the beast and the woman in the "great city" -again complete opposites. 

So from the beginning of time, there has been confusion as to what a woman was created to be.  I believe some of that is explained to us very well in Genesis 3:16, where God tells Eve, "To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children ; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.""  Eve was the first one to cross over the line God created between our roles.  Was Eve incapable of answering the Serpent when he offered her the fruit?  No, obviously she was able to rationalize a decision and make it -no one chose it for her.  Instead of honoring her husband and turning to him, she was deceived.  (And make sure you read very carefully, Adam was standing right there with her so it isnt as if she had to run home to ask for his thoughts.) 

It isnt that women are incapable of doing the things men were created to do.  And in some instances, a woman is capable of doing things better than a man.  That doesnt mean that we just jump into a role that is not ours.

I am also learning that the day-to-day roles that I have as a woman are probably different from the ones you have.  And mine will change from season to season as I live life.