Strong Women Can Still Desire to Feel Protected
- Tina Smith
- Apr 6
- 2 min read
𝗔 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱.
Let’s say the quiet part out loud.
Many women who lead businesses, ministries, churches, and teams have learned how to carry weight alone. We know how to build. We know how to decide. We know how to fight when necessary.
But strength does not cancel design.
Scripture says, “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)
The word “helper” there is ezer in Hebrew. It is the same word used to describe God as our help. It is not weakness. It is power aligned in partnership.
And yet, Ephesians calls husbands to something weighty.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:25)
That is sacrificial covering. That is intentional protection. That is strength used to guard, not dominate.
The Struggle of Female Leaders
Here is the tension many female leaders live in:
We can stand strong in the boardroom and still long to feel safe in our marriage. We can preach, build, counsel, and pioneer and still desire a man who says, “Not on my watch,” when the arrows come. We can carry vision and still want to be carried.
Proverbs 31 describes a woman who buys fields, trades profitably, manages her household, and speaks with wisdom. She is not small. She is not passive.
But verse 11 says, “The heart of her husband trusts in her.”
And verse 23 shows her husband known at the gates. There is mutual honor. Mutual strength. Mutual dignity.
The real question is not whether a woman can be strong.
The real question is:
How do we remain confident without hardening?
How do we allow covering without surrendering our voice?
How do husbands protect without controlling?
When a husband protects in the way Christ protects, a woman does not shrink. She rises. She expands. She carries her mandate with even greater authority because she is not fighting battles she was never meant to fight alone.
For many women in leadership, the temptation is to armor up everywhere. At work. At church. At home.
But armor that never comes off eventually turns into isolation.
And isolation was never God’s design.
“Two are better than one… For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10)
This is not about weakness.
This is about alignment.
It is time we have this conversation with humility and truth.
Stronger marriages do not weaken powerful women.
They stabilize them. Biblical covering does not silence women. It strengthens their voice.
If you are a woman who leads, I want to ask you gently:
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂?
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Tina Smith
Author | Mentor | Supervisor | Mediator-in-Training | International Coach | Director | Founder of Selah Treatment Center
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