Whenever you think of powerful women, you’re probably thinking of someone with a strong LinkedIn profile. We can tend to associate a woman’s power with her career and the success she has achieved, rather than the strength of her character.
But what about the women in the Bible? Do you ever think of them as powerful?
I’ll admit—before I studied the Bible, I didn’t really think of the women in the Bible as powerful. My perspective of women in the Bible was skewed because I had allowed other people to define what that looked like, rather than digging through the Scriptures for myself. The only women in the Bible that I knew were the “usuals”, and I didn’t see them as powerful. They were known by their sin (e.g. Eve or Jezebel), known by their relationship to their husband (e.g. Lot’s wife), or known by their role as a mother (e.g. Sarah or Mary, Mother of Jesus).
Clearly (and thankfully!) I had to get into the Scriptures because the Bible is actually filled with powerful, bold, righteous women who changed the course of history! In fact, if you study out women in the Bible, you’ll see that God has a very special, tender place in his heart for women and that he wants to empower us to change the world!
So grab your Bible and a notebook, and let’s get acquainted with the lives of five powerful women in the Bible that you rarely hear about!
1. Lydia (Acts 16:11-15)
Lydia is by far my favorite woman in the Bible! She is someone I have always wanted to imitate in terms of her devotion to God, service to God’s people, and her business acumen.
What I absolutely love about Lydia is that she is the epitome of a powerful, righteous, godly woman!
She was an influential business woman and leader, and the Scriptures say she was a worshiper of God whose heart still needed to be opened in order to respond to the true Gospel message (Acts 16:14). She would go on to become a true, baptized disciple of Jesus, and she would even go on to convert her entire household as well!
As a young Christian, I remember feeling a bit out of place because I didn’t have the desires that other young Christian women had—I wasn’t thinking about finding my Boaz, being a mother, or being a homemaker with a mommy blog. There wasn’t anything wrong with any of those desires, it’s just that I wanted to be a successful career woman.
After seeing a woman like Lydia that I could identify with in the Bible, it truly inspired me. It showed me that there were god-fearing, influential, powerful women in the Bible that God used to change the world.
2. Samaritan Woman (John 4:4-42)
If you’re an avid Bible reader, you are probably familiar with the Samaritan Woman’s story. For those that aren’t, she was a woman with a troubled, shameful past who had a life changing interaction with Jesus. It was because of this interaction that she went on to tell many other Samaritans about Jesus, thereby changing their lives of or eternity.
Many women have challenging pasts and sometimes we can feel like our past can weigh us down, hold us back, or prevent us from moving forward. What’s amazing about the Samaritan Woman is that, once she had that life changing conversation with Jesus, her past no longer held her back and defined her.
As women, if we allow Jesus and the power of the gospel to radically change our lives, we can overcome our past. It doesn’t mean we forget about what happened, but it doesn’t have to define who we are.
A woman that can overcome her past and use it to empower the lives of others, is one powerful woman!
3. Joanna (Luke 8:3, Luke 24:1-10)
Like Lydia, Joanna is another one of my favorite women in the Bible. She was one of the women that financially supported Jesus’ ministry from her own means—which means she had money and possessions!
What makes Joanna a powerful woman in the Bible isn’t just that she was able to support Jesus’ ministry through her own means, but it’s that her generosity and sacrifice was an extension of her gratitude.
The Scriptures say that Joanna and the other women who supported Jesus “had been cured of evil spirits and diseases” (Luke 8:2). I can only imagine how grateful those women must have felt to be instantly healed! Jesus had radically changed their lives and these women didn’t take that for granted.
Being a powerful woman like Joanna isn’t just about having a high salary or even having an influential husband (she was the wife of Chuza, who managed the family affairs of Herod Agrippa). It’s being grateful for all that Jesus has done in your life and serving him wholeheartedly with everything you have.
4. Anna (Luke 2:36-38)
There is not much mentioned in the Bible about Anna, but we do know that she was a widow and that she worshipped God day and night with prayer and fasting. She was a woman who was devoted to God despite any challenges that come with being a widow (i.e. grief, loneliness, etc).
Her years of devotion to God eventually paid off because she was able to meet the Messiah as a baby! Imagine what an honor she must have felt! She had a daily devotion to God for years (decades!), where she clung to His promises, which resulted in the opportunity to see part of those promises revealed—wow!
It’s because of Anna’s steadfast devotion to God—her life of prayer and fasting—that she is a powerful woman of the Bible. Being a powerful women isn’t just about being a hard worker, being a great wife, or even being a great mom. It’s relying on God through prayer and fasting, and allowing him to work powerfully through us.
Our power doesn’t have to be based on our own strength—it can be God’s power shining through us (2 Corinthians 12:9).
5. Martha (Luke 11:38-42, John 11:17-44)
Even though Martha is known as the “anxious sister of Mary”, she was still an amazing, powerful woman of God. The fact that this woman “opened her home to [Jesus]” (Luke 10:38) shows that the home was hers—she wasn’t married and was the leader of that household, and used her home to entertain the savior of the world (1 John 4:14). What an honor!
What makes Martha a powerful woman in the Bible is not just her leadership of her family or the fact that she was hardworking enough to have her own household. It’s that Jesus loved Martha. This family was known by Jesus and were dear friends to him, so much so that Jesus wept over the death of Lazarus, even though he knew he was going to raise him from the dead (talk about compassion)!
Being a powerful woman isn’t just knowing God—it’s him knowing us. Yes, God knows everyone, but it’s amazing to actually be known by the creator of the world. It’s kind of like knowing of a celebrity versus being a close friend to one. To be known by God means you have a relationship with him and you’re going after him with all your heart.
We have an entire Bible study on Martha that breaks her story down further if you want to learn more!
This was just a small list of the powerful women in the Bible—there are so many others that we didn’t mention!
Who is your favorite powerful woman in the Bible from the list above? Have any favorites that did not make the list? Comment below to let us know!
