On “Violent” Determination

I am not an advocate of violence at all, believe me, but there are times in which that level of fierceness, determination, and action is exactly what’s required to bring about critical change and needed results.

One woman’s story take us there. And chances are high you’ve not heard of her (which you’ll understand why, once you’ve read her tale).

Deborah was a judge, prophet, and consultant to the Israelite military leader. She called for him to give him needed strategy, he came, and he did what she commanded — even saying that he wouldn’t ride into battle without her. She agreed, they rode together and completely routed their opponents. The enemy commander, seeing that his doom was imminent, escaped. A woman named Jael, unknown and marginalized, saw him in flight and offered him protection. She brought him into her tent, gave him warm milk and a warm blanket, then promised to stand guard while he rested. Once he was asleep, she picked up a tent peg and drove it through his temple into the ground.

Not that surprising that this story is rarely told to small children in Sunday School. Not that surprising that it’s not preached from the pulpit very often. Not that surprising that you may not have ever heard of her. And yet, she is impossible to ignore.

Jael displays incredible bravery and courage in the face of certain (or at least highly-probable) doom. And still…

She risks. She acts. She perseveres. She is victorious.

‘Sound anything like what it takes to be a writer, an entrepreneur, an employee, a mother, a lover, a friend, a woman, a human?

Jael serves as model, mentor, and muse in our places of needed bravery and courage; in our times in which that level of fierceness, determination, and action is exactly what’s required to bring about critical change and needed results. She serves as support in the battles that must be fought — internally and externally — which call forth great daring and quick thinking, sometimes even clandestine and stealth-like actions. Jael stands in solidarity through our tentativeness, our caution, our worry, even our endless-processing of the odds and says, “Do it anyway.”

She compels us to “Violent” Determination — which sometimes, quite frankly, is exactly what we need.

“Violent” Determination is a bold, swift, strong, and unmistakable commitment to do what must be done — no matter the risk, no matter the fear, no matter what!

Imagine Jael’s companioning-strength and the use of “Violent” Determination in your world:

• What would happen if you stepped into the places in which you naturally feel afraid, tentative, or small, with a tent peg in mind?
• What would happen if you fought your battles — inside and out — with strategic, forceful, and no-turning-back actions — trusting that you know exactly what to do and when?
• What would happen if, instead of letting caution rule the day, you heard and responded to Jael’s cry of “Do it, anyway.”
• And what would happen if you acted, risked, and persevered on behalf of what must be done, what is only yours to do, what awaits your dauntless and valiant heart?

I’m not advocating violence, of course. Far from such. What I am advocating is that we take Jael’s lead and do what must be done; that we risk, act, and persevere. What I am advocating is that we find solace and strength in her visceral support within our battles, our life. What I am advocating is that we hear her determined, steady voice say, “Do it, anyway.”

Write the post — email — book.
Make the call.
Have the hard conversation.
Say the prayer.
Be the answer to prayer.
Tell the truth.
Be vulnerable.
Be firm.
Let yourself be seen.
Risk.
Act.
Persevere.

There are times in which “Violent” Determination is exactly what’s needed…and required.

Jael is our heroine on this one. But not in some dusty, ancient, irrelevant-or-fantastical way. She stands, she strengthens, she stays. She hands you the tent peg, and says, “You’ve got this.”

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When the battle was over and news spread that Sisera, the enemy commander was dead, Deborah sang a song (still recounted and celebrated in Jewish tradition today), lauding Jael’s critical role in their victory: “Most blessed of women be Jael,”

And the story ends with these words: Then the land had peace forty years.

“Violent” Determination is sometimes the relentless, wild, passionate, savage action it takes to get what we really want, long for, and desire: peace.

Peace in the land, in our hearts, in our minds, in our world. May it be so.