I had an epiphany recently while listening to a workshop about a wife’s submission and a helper to her husband.  I don’t know how I’ve missed this wonderful revelation for so long.

After God created Adam, “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’”  (Genesis 2:18)  Eve was created to be a helper, suitable for Adam.

Whenever I think of the word “helper,” the word “assistant” comes to mind.  In the corporate world, an assistant is merely an assistant, someone who’s been given assignments or tasks to do by her superior who she has no authority of her own except to do what she’s been instructed.  When a company wants to roll out the next promising product, an assistant is not called upon to handle such project.  Rather, the most promising executive is called upon to handle such task.  In the same manner, I find that women tend to have the same view when thinking about being a helper as designed by God.  We have a low view of being named a helper.  Yet contrary to what we may think or feel, this is not the case.

The Hebrew word for “helper” is ezer which means help or support.  While this meaning doesn’t exude much significance at the moment, my epiphany came about when I learned that the same word, ezer, is also used to describe God as our help.  Some examples in the Bible of this use include:

1 Samuel 7:12 – Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.”

God helped the Israelites defeat the Philistines in a time of distress and discouragement, and as a symbol of God’s help, Samuel erected a stone called Ebenezer (which means “stone of help”).  Notice the ezer in Ebenezer? Samuel thus declared the Lord had helped them.

Psalm 54:4  – Behold, God is my helper;  the Lord is the upholder of my life.

Psalm 28:7 – The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Knowing the same word, ezer, is used to describe God as our helper, do we still have a low view of being helpers to our husbands?  I should hope not!  As helpers, we help out of strength, not weakness.  We certainly don’t see God as an assistant; and neither should we (or our husbands) view the role of wives as mere assistants.  We are called to help our husbands not because they need someone to fulfill menial tasks, but because God saw that the first man needed help to fulfill God’s perfect purposes for him.