Equipping Eve: Exposition for Women and Productive Boredom

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

Well, it's true, there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Ebendroth and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Well, hello ladies and welcome to Equipping Eve, the show that seeks to equip you with fruits of truth from God's Word.

We have a firm foundation of truth in Scripture in the 66 books of the Bible.

The hymn writer said, How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent

Word. And the hymn writer was right, right? Right. That's a great hymn.

That's one of my favorites, anyway. But more so, do

I love the Word, the Word of God, and I don't have an opportunity to read it enough and not as deliberate and intentional to sit and read it and study it as much as I would like, and I think we can probably all identify with that, can't we?

We're busy. Life keeps us busy, but that is not an excuse, and we'll get into that a little bit more later on in the show.

So, first off, if you're on social media, so is Equipping Eve, so you can find me on Facebook at Equipping Eve and also

Twitter at Equipping Eve or at Ebensblog. On Facebook, we will connect the podcasts, links to the podcasts whenever they finally get up, and other articles and whatnot, etc.,

etc. If you follow at Ebensblog on Twitter, then sometimes you'll just see random tweets from me.

It might be a cat video, because what is social media without cat videos? Or it might be something about work, because let's face it, most of my life is spent doing my job.

So that is that. God is good to give us work to keep us busy and to provide for us, and so we're all very thankful for the ways in which he has done that.

As I said, we will talk about busyness in a bit, but first,

I want to start with an article that I came across on Facebook, actually, so social media isn't all that terrible.

I think Michelle Leslie might have linked to this initially. That might be how I initially found it, so shout out.

Thank you, Michelle, for finding good stuff. It is an article. It was on VerityFellowship .org.

It's called Exposition is for Women Too. It's written by Mary Liebert, and so I'm not really familiar with this website or this writer, but it's a good article, so we're going to take a look at it.

Okay, anyway, Exposition is for Women Too by Mary Liebert. She says, I recently spent a weekend at a simian trust workshop for women.

For three days, we learned how to faithfully study scripture in preparation to teach. The greatest part of the weekend for me, being in a room with 70 other women doing intense collaborative work centered around the word of God.

We pushed, questioned, and encouraged one another in deep academic Bible study, and it was all for the sake of becoming better teachers of the word.

Ooh, uh -oh, uh -oh. She goes on. Too often, women's ministry in the church is characterized by fluff.

It sends the wrong message, not just to women, but to the world around us, especially if we focus our time together on feel -good, us -centered activities and teaching.

Ooh, can we get not men? Women are quite capable, whoa, wait a minute, oh,

I think she's a feminist. I'm being sarcastic. I love this quote.

Women are quite capable of studying the Bible and studying it well. Ooh, okay then.

I agree. She says, yet sometimes we need to be convinced or reminded of our capabilities because we are regularly tempted to keep women's ministries fluffy, lacking serious content from the word.

We may think it's more welcoming to women who are new, or we might think women are already overworked and want to kick back and be refreshed.

Yeah, but is Bible study time the time to kick back and be served? I don't think so.

You are served by your study of the word, but not by being lazy. She says, or perhaps we even believe serious study is for others, whoever they may be.

She's very gracious there because I'll straight up say it, that a lot of women and a lot of men will say that the serious study is for the men, and you ladies take care of the children and we'll learn the deep theology.

All right. She goes on, but what if the whole intent of the Bible is to minister truth to us?

What if we shortchange women by not teaching intently from the word? I believe women need to hear other women exposit, i .e.

teach clearly and directly from the Bible. Here are a few reasons why, and she goes on. God speaks to us through the

Bible. Scripture is the primary way God has revealed himself to us. God in his greatness, holiness, and righteousness chose to use human communication to speak to us.

He did this so we can know him and love him. This is amazing. Amen to that. We take it for granted that we have this book to open at any time and sometimes treat the

Bible like any other book. But if we belong to God, we should make every effort to draw near to him, and we can do this best by reading, knowing, studying, and teaching scripture regularly.

We are cheating ourselves and others if we do not put time and effort into our study of the

Bible. Good stuff. Next point. She says

God has given women good brains. Hmm. I don't know.

She just sounds really a lot like a feminist here. Again, I'm being sarcastic.

She writes, not only did God give us his word, he gave us good brains to understand it. Every single person who genuinely seeks to know

God through his word can do so. Psalm 119, 130. Women are incredibly smart. Women excel in all walks of life because we are capable and intelligent, and yet, often we do not provide opportunities for women to use our great minds in the church.

This is not only unfortunate, it is wrong. Women can and should use their intelligence to know the

Bible, and we should teach one another using skillful exposition.

This leads into her next point. God has gifted women to teach. I am privileged to know some amazing women who teach with such skill and grace.

I hope you do too. Without a doubt, many women are gifted teachers. We need to use the gifts God has given us.

Women communicate differently than men. When women exposit to women, we can challenge and exhort one another in ways a man cannot.

We are refreshed and encouraged when we gather together to study and learn the word together. And finally, she says the

Bible ministers to women. I've participated in numerous Bible studies in my lifetime. Inevitably, women at times come to a study feeling broken.

As a leader, there were times when I suspended our entire discussion to care for the needs of women in distress. Other times, we listened and loved, prayed, and moved on to our regular study time.

Though it sometimes seems like the most caring thing is to suspend the study, in my experience, women are better cared for by carrying on with Bible study.

God's words are ones of life and love given to us to minister to us. God's word reveals Jesus, shows us our great need of Him, and assures us that we are safe in His presence.

No better way exists to care for one another than to lead each other to His grace. One of the best means of doing this is through exposition.

My words of comfort to a hurting woman will always fall short, but God's words of comfort bring exactly what is needed.

And I would interject, we don't suspend our study of the word to go to a passage that will meet that felt need in the moment.

Because in reality, all of God's word will minister to all of God's people in all circumstances.

Maybe where you are studying there in Ephesians or Jonah is not directly applicable to what is happening in your life or trial or joy you are in the midst of.

But nonetheless, God's truths reign supreme, and they will still impact your life and that situation in a powerful, life -changing way.

Finally, she says, thorough, intentional study of the Bible is not just for others. Expositional teaching is for women, too.

When we embrace a serious study of the word, we will see women grow and flourish. We will show them that God's word is powerful, life -changing, and attainable for all.

Let's get another amen. Thank you, Mary Liebert, for writing this article. Exposition is for women, too.

There are some great points in here. Some fantastic points. Women have brains.

Yeah, they do. They do. They do have brains. They can do more than bake cookies.

And I've certainly made this point before. And what I love about this article, I agree with everything in this.

And what I'm confused about is when I say similar things, I'm accused of being a feminist.

So I don't know if that has happened since Ms. Liebert wrote this article, if she's been accused of being a feminist.

That's why I sarcastically said, oh, she's getting to sound like a feminist. She is not. She is sounding like a biblical

Christian. And I'm not even going to say a biblical Christian woman. I'm going to say a biblical Christian because a biblical

Christian will acknowledge these truths for all Christians and acknowledge that God's given women good brains and men good brains.

That God has gifted women and men to teach. Now, there are different roles within the body of Christ.

Women are not to teach and hold authority over men. We affirm that. At a cooking eve,

I wholeheartedly affirm that. I also wholeheartedly affirm that women, have they been gifted to teach or whatever their gift is, they should be using that in the church and should be able to use it in the church and should not be limited to, you know, food service and nursery duty just because they are women.

You know, this is not, that is not scriptural. And too many churches seem to think that it is.

That, you know, women bake and have babies and that is all they need to do.

But you know what? Women have brains and we see that very clearly in scripture. We see the result of loving

God and studying his word. What about Mary? What about Anna? What about Hannah? Mary, Luke 1 verse 46,

Mary said, It seems to me

Mary might have known her Bible. Luke 2 verse 36,

That, of course, is when the child

Jesus was presented at the temple. Anna knew that the

Messiah was coming. And when she saw the Messiah, she began giving thanks to God and continued to speak of him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

That is a woman who knew God's word, God's promises, and had brains and used them to proclaim

God's goodness. What about Hannah? What about Hannah in 1

Samuel 2? Hannah prayed and said, My heart exalts in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the

Lord. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is no one holy like the

Lord. Indeed, there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God. Boast no more so very proudly.

Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and with him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty are shattered, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who are full hire themselves out for bread, but those who are hungry cease to hunger.

Even the barren gives birth to seven, but she who has many children languishes. The Lord kills and makes alive.

He brings down to shale and raises up. The Lord makes poor and rich. Oh, it's like she knows about God's sovereignty.

He brings low. He also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust, lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles and inherit a seat of honor.

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he set the world on them. He keeps the feet of his godly ones, but the wicked ones are silenced in darkness.

For not by might shall a man prevail. Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered. Against them he will thunder in the heavens.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, and he will give strength to his king and will exalt the horn of his anointed."

Again, it seems to me that Hannah knew a little bit about the Lord. Hmm. Interesting.

It's like these women studied the scriptures and the truths available to them at the time.

It's like these women trusted in the Lord. It's like these women used their gifts to serve the Lord. And shock of shocks, these women are in the

Bible. And actually, I believe we have an episode on each of these women. So look back in the archives, ladies, and take a listen to those if you have some time.

These are just a few examples from scripture of the faithfulness of women and the biblical knowledge and trust and faith of these women in scripture.

And that's to say nothing of the women throughout church history, right? I can't recommend highly enough, ladies, certainly not in lieu of your

Bible study, but if you do have free time, to pick up a book and read a little bit about some of these women from church history and the impact that they've had.

I highly recommend Eight Women of Faith by Dr. Michael Hagen. And of course, even

Fox's Book of Martyrs has some stories in there about some of the women throughout church history. And I'm currently reading a book by Sharon James called

In Trouble and in Joy, Four Women Who Lived for God. And so far, I'm enjoying that as well, although I'm not that far into it, but still

I'm enjoying it. So let's see. She tackles in this book, Margaret Baxter, Sarah Edwards, Anne Steele, and Frances Fridley Habergel.

So again, if you're looking for some reading, I recommend this. It is so encouraging to see how

God uses women. And I don't mean to make the show a constant platform for things like this.

I'm not trying to. I'm just encouraged when I see articles like what was written here by Mary Liebert.

And I just want to encourage you ladies. Do not feel like you are limited in how you can serve the body.

Yes, you are limited by the roles that God has ordained, but you are not limited.

If you have been given a gift by the Lord, you ought to be using it. That is part of our spiritual growth, right?

Is it not? We can sit there and learn all the theology we want, but if we aren't exercising it in our lives, we still will become spiritually malnourished.

So okay, like I said, those are just a few examples. I was actually going to read a little excerpt from Eight Women of Faith about Lady Jane Gray, but I think we're kind of going wonky on time.

So I'm going to skip that. So I hope you're encouraged to do that, ladies, to look at some of these other examples in scripture, in church history, from other women who have served the

Lord, and I hope you're encouraged to be active in your church and in your community and in your family and using your gifts to serve the

Lord, whatever that looks like. Do not be discouraged by teachers who might emphasize otherwise.

I once attended a seminar class, I don't know what you'd call it, it was basically like a basic theology class, and the individual speaking, he stood up and started out with an approximately 20 -minute diatribe about how important this class in the coming weeks would be for the men in the room, and they just really needed to learn these truths.

And ladies, it's okay that you're here, but the most benefit that you're going to get is the fact that the men are learning this, and the ironic thing that I'm not sure the speaker realized for a couple of weeks in a row, and then it died and ceased to exist, but the majority of his audience was women.

If you looked around the room, the women were the ones who were there wanting to learn more, and yet they were discouraged right off the bat, right off the bat, and it was very disheartening.

I almost walked out, but I didn't, but you know, there is a mindset.

There is a mindset out there, and it's present among some teachers and in some churches, and don't let that discourage you ladies.

Find ways, seek out ways to serve the Lord in a biblical way, and use the gifts he has given you.

So be encouraged, be encouraged by the word of God that he has given us, that he has provided his word for women, he has gifted women, and he uses women.

So, that's my feminist rant for the day. I am not actually a feminist.

I hope that's really clear. I know people think that because I say that women can do more than bake cookies and have babies, they seem to think that that means

I'm a feminist. I don't understand that, but if that is the definition of feminism, then

I guess I am one, but I'm not. So anyway, enough feminism for the day, let's talk about wasting time, because we've kind of alluded to that, haven't we?

We've talked a little bit about busyness, and in your free time, read this book, I just told you that. So, I came across this article, it's a secular article,

Gasp, I know, it's called The Psychological Importance of Wasting Time, and it makes some really good points.

There will always be an endless list of chores to complete, it says, and work to do. This is written by Olivia Goldhill, and the culture of relentless productivity tells us to get to it right away and feel terribly guilty about any time wasted.

But the truth is, a life spent dutifully responding to emails is a dull one indeed, and wasted time is in fact highly fulfilling and necessary.

The problem comes when we spend so long frantically chasing productivity, we refuse to take real breaks.

We put off sleeping in, or going for a long walk, or reading by the window, and even if we do manage time away from the grind, it comes with a looming awareness of the things we should be doing, and so the experience is weighed down by guilt.

Has anybody felt this? Because I feel it daily. Daily. So, I think that is a really interesting observation.

She continues, instead, there's a tendency to turn to the least fulfilling tendency of them all, sitting at our desk, in front of our computer, browsing websites, and contributing to neither our happiness nor our productivity.

But then it gets interesting, then you start to see where it's not exactly a Christ -centered article.

So, one individual says, we're missing out on the mental and physical benefits of time spent focused on ourselves.

So, yeah. It's not as though we need to work so hard. Luminaries including Charles Dickens, Gabriel Garcia, Marquez, and Charles Darwin had quite relaxed schedules, working for five hours a day or less.

Somebody tell my employer. The truth is, work expands to fill the time it's given, and for most of us, we could spend considerably fewer hours at the office and still get the same amount done.

Again, someone make a memo, send a memo out. Sometimes, even the activities that are meant to be a treat, watching a movie, or going for a run, can be weighed down by a sense of responsibility, et cetera, et cetera.

Wasting time is about recharging your battery and decluttering. Taking time to be totally, gloriously, proudly unproductive will ultimately make you better at your job, but it's also fulfilling in and of itself.

I see some good points in this article, particularly this tendency to feel guilty when you're quote unquote wasting time.

You are playing a game with your kids, perhaps, and you feel guilty because you didn't vacuum yet.

So, that's a problem, because is that something you should feel guilty about?

I would say no, but though there are valid points in this article,

I think we need to put a biblical spin on it, right? So Tim Challies recently wrote an article entitled,

Make Time to Be Bored, and I thought this was interesting. He says, boredom isn't what it used to be.

Boredom used to be the absence of stimuli, the lack of interest in any available activity. Boredom was being left alone with your thoughts, but today, boredom has taken on a new character.

It's the presence of a screen and an ever -scrolling timeline of social media. We used to be staring blankly at a wall or into the sky, but it's been transformed into staring vacantly into a glowing rectangle.

He says, boredom should not be confused with idleness. Idleness is laziness and indolence. It is refusing to do what needs to be done, but boredom is simple inactivity, a break from the hustle and bustle and busyness of life.

It's the pause between activities or the deliberate escape from activity altogether. Something happens to us when we are outside the flow of constant stimuli.

It's then that our brains switch into a higher mode, that they begin to mull over ideas, begin to convert information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom.

We can't stop our brains. He says, we can't not think. We can't not ponder. It is in these times of boredom that we're struck by unexpected thoughts, that our brains suddenly burst with new ideas, that our minds are stimulated with fresh insights.

Boredom fosters ingenuity and genius and even godliness. It used to, at least, but today, in every moment of boredom, our hands drop to our pockets or purses to withdraw our ever -present glowing rectangles.

Our brains never slip into that higher mode. They never have time to ponder, consider, or meditate. Our glowing rectangles are stealing from us something that is precious.

Today, more than ever, we need to introduce, no, reintroduce boredom into our lives. We need it for the sake of our minds, for the sake of our hearts, for the sake of our knowledge and wisdom and godliness.

We need to deliberately step outside the flow of constant stimulus and make time to be bored.

I think this is interesting. I think we have to be careful with our terms of boredom because it can be misconstrued.

And again, I think there's good points in both of these articles here. And I think

Chalice, of course, brings a more important focus to the idea of boredom or quote -unquote unproductivity, even though that's not what it ultimately ends up being.

It's not saying that we should be wasting hours in front of the TV. It's not saying that we just lay there and do nothing, necessarily.

But what point is he making? He's saying, turn off the stimuli. Turn off this electronic stimuli. And I am preaching to myself because I can spend forever scrolling through Twitter, waste time in the morning looking at Facebook.

I don't put much on Facebook, but yet I'm looking at all the other stuff that other people are putting on there. And while some of that is helpful,

I wouldn't find some of these articles if not for that. Much of it is not. You know,

I really don't need to know about the latest gluten -free recipe because if it's gluten -free, it probably tastes awful.

And chances are 99 % of the people who think they're gluten -free actually don't need to be. So it's just a waste of time.

So we need to turn off the worldly stimuli, right? We need to take time to ponder ideas, to meditate on scripture, to read and study

God's word so that we can exercise the gifts he has given us, right?

Do you see the connection I'm trying to make here on two completely different topics? I think we need to be more intentional about our boredom, not to the extent that it becomes then a legalistic cumbersome issue.

Like, oh, I wasn't bored in the right way today. No, I don't know. I messed up again.

In a way that fosters productive boredom. That's my new phrase, productive boredom.

Now, Chali's made a good point that being bored is not the same as being idle. What is being idle?

GotQuestions .org says that the general meaning of idleness is undisciplined slackness.

And says that Ecclesiastes 10 .18 reads, through laziness, the rafters sag because of idle hands the house leaks.

So idleness is the opposite of diligence, which is, of course, commended by the Bible. So what should we do?

We should use our boredom to cultivate good practices such as prayer and Bible study and meditation on scripture and service, right?

The Bible instructs us to be, 1 Corinthians 15 .58, always abounding in the work of the

Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. So what might that labor be?

It might be just studying the Bible. It might be reading a biography about someone from church history, because we still learn that way.

We are still blessed by that. And we are still sanctified and taught and molded by things like that.

It might be active service in your church. It might be ladies. It might be spending time with your family without posting it to Facebook.

It might be going to the park and not posting 30 pictures of your kids at the park, because it might mean going out and doing something with your kids or sitting down playing a game with them and not posting pictures of it and a play -by -play of it on Facebook.

Because at the end of the day, your friends may hit the like button, but they don't really care that much.

I'd really rather that you just spend your day with the kids and not tell me about it, because that tells your kids that they are your priority, not elevating yourself in front of your 15 ,000 closest friends on Facebook.

Have we ever thought about it that way? That might be your labor in the Lord for the day.

Or maybe it will be going to the grocery store and sharing the gospel with someone in the produce department.

Or maybe it's serving at VBS at your church or in the women's ministry.

Maybe it is baking cookies for someone who has been sick or bringing a meal to them.

Those are good things. I don't mean to denigrate the baking. I love the baking. We need to be intentional,

I think, even about our idleness. And again, not to make that then a legalistic thing to put on our shoulders, but to be mindful that we are taking the time away from the stimuli, the worldly stimuli, and that we're using that time well.

Maybe it is just relaxing and sitting and talking with your family. I think that would be good.

That can still be the work of the Lord. God can be glorified in those conversations.

God can use that to demonstrate the Christian life to those who are watching, whether it's your spouse or your children or your friends.

Are we abounding in the work of the Lord? And of course, ultimately, that is an active work, isn't it?

Especially as used there in 1 Corinthians. And so we don't want to encourage just sitting around all the time.

No, let's be busy about the work of the Lord. But I think Chalice makes a good point that taking that time away from the stimuli can even foster godliness, ingenuity, and genius.

And so I really liked that point that he made there. So let's consider that. Let's consider that as we go on with our lives.

Let's consider that before we're busy about posting more pictures of ourselves on Facebook, more pictures of our kids, more pictures of our cat.

I'm guilty of that. And I'm not saying it's wrong to do that once in a while. I'm not saying we don't ever want to see a funny picture of your kids.

I'm saying, what's your focus when you're doing that? You know, are you doing the activity so that you can share a picture with people?

Like, oh, I'm going to go do all these fun things with my kids so that I can take pictures and show everybody what a leave -it -to -beaver mom

I am. Well, no, let's not be doing that. Let's be mindful that even in our boredom, we are busy about the work of the

Lord. Whatever that quote unquote busy might look like. It might mean sleeping in a little bit so that we are more refreshed for the day.

It might mean staying up late to do some reading, to do some studying. It looks different in each season and for each person, but I think it's something we need to be intentional about.

And it's something I was challenged by. And so I hope it's something that you'll be challenged by as well. Okay, ladies.

Well, let's be intentional about our boredom, about our use of our time, I think is what that ultimately comes down to.

Our use of our time, not so that we're just constantly busy to say we're busy, so that we're busy about the work of the

Lord, whatever that may be, whatever that might look like in that moment or that season.

Until next time, get in your Bibles, get on your knees, and get equipped.

Thanks for listening. You've been listening to Equipping Eve, a no compromise radio production.

If you'd like to get a hold of Erin, you can reach her at equippingeve at gmail .com. Or you can check out one of our two websites, do not be surprised .com