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Judith 8:9-10. "When Judith heard the wicked words spoken by the people against the ruler, because they were faint for lack of water, and when she heard all that Uzziah said to them, and how he promised them under oath to surrender the city to the Assyrians after five days, she sent her maid, who was in charge of all she possessed, to summon Chabris and Charmis, the elders of her city."

 

Judith doesn't just see how the leaders aren't properly leading, and how the people are failing, and complain about it, she does something about it, something constructive. She calls the leaders to her and talks to them (Judith 8:11-23). Her meeting with them is meant to correct them, to pull them back from "putting the Lord Almighty to the test" (Judith 8:13). She is not berating them with her indignation, nor requiring them to do something to make her feel better, in other words she's not being a Karen. She already has a plan, and will do it on her own, with God's help. "Listen to me", she says, "I am about to do a thing which will go down through all generations of our descendants." (Judith 8:32). And she does do that thing!

 

The reason for Judith calling in the leaders was not to lecture them, nor make them do her bidding, it was to give them much needed correction and alert them to the fact that she herself was going to take action. She then sends them on their way and goes saves her people, at great risk to herself.

 

Lately, unfortunately, women seem to have become very confused about our roles, our strengths, our weaknesses, and how to work within all those to accomplish good. So many women have allowed their natural empathy and care to be twisted, and they then try to make others bend to their way of thinking and do what they say (see some members of the Lindsay Clancy jury, for example).

 

Judith is an example of how we women can use our God given abilities to correct others without laying the burden of what we are meant to do ourselves at others' feet. She also is an example of how to listen to God, letting Him tell us what He wants us to do. Sometimes God asks us to do pretty unusual things, but we won't hear Him if we're busy instructing others to do what we want, when and how we want it.