“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (1)

“Yahuwah your God is in your midst (present with you), the Mighty one (the All-powerful one who never loses), will save (will fight, battle to the finish to defeat your foes and triumph): He will rejoice over you with gladness (the very thought of you causes Him to smile from every part of His being), He will quiet (cause all objections, anxieties, fears, and condemnation to cease) you with His love. He will (passionately) dance (leap, skip, and violently spin) over you with singing.” (2)

Rejoice: to spin around under a violent emotion; be glad, joy, be joyful, dance (3)

Virility: (from the Latin virilitas, manhood or virility, derived from Latin vir, man) refers to any of a wide range of masculine characteristics viewed positively. Virile means “marked by strength or force.” Virility is commonly associated with vigor, health, sturdiness, and constitution, especially in the fathering of children. In this last sense, virility is to men as fertility is to women. (4)

Virility synonyms: manliness · masculinity · maleness · manfulness · manhood · machismo · gallantry · chivalry · valor · valiance · fearlessness · bravery · intrepidity · stout-heartedness · lionheartedness · boldness · daring · heroism · mettle · spirit · strength · vigor · toughness · robustness · powerful build · muscularity · muscle · brawniness · sturdiness · ruggedness · heftiness · huskiness · red-bloodedness · sexual potency · potency · sexuality · fertility (5)

Hased: Lovingkindness: the forever covenantal, always unconditionally unwaveringly loyal, kind love of inseparable bonding, of divine family, of eternal attachment. Hased love is the perfect attachment love that our souls need to grow up healthy and whole. This is what the Bible refers to as the lovingkindness of God. (6)

Hased - Virility Part 1

Karen Connell

That is a whole lot of definitions. They were given for a reason. Let me say that I enter these waters with fear and trembling. Humbly, I submit these thoughts for prayerful consideration.

Our greater context in this writing is hased: God’s encompassing, perfect, attachment love. As I was preparing to lead a small portion of a women’s retreat, I was pondering God’s hased love and the passage of Zephaniah 3:17. As I did, the word virility rose to the surface of my mind and spirit, and I was a bit floored. I had not heard that word in decades, and when I had it usually had negative sexual connotations. As our society changed, that word solicits condescending sneers, as being neanderthal. And I pretty much agreed. So

why was God highlighting that word now in my preparation? Frankly, I was a bit disturbed. Based upon my previous understanding, it referred to a man’s sexual prowess and his ability to impregnate. I couldn’t imagine there being any place for this definition linked to God at a women’s retreat. But God wouldn’t let it go.

I have learned over the years, when facing a challenge like this, to press into “the more” I don’t know and “the more” God wants to reveal.

If you look at the definition and synonyms for virility listed above, you can see there is quite a bit more to the meaning than just sexual prowess. I was stunned. I continued to pray and research both Zephaniah 3:17 and the word virility. And God blew my mind. Suddenly my nice, very feminine imagery of God singing over me and dancing over me went from a sweet ballad to a ferocious warrior violently and passionately dancing over me and against my enemies. Think imagery from a “Haka” dance. It was undeniable. How did I miss that all these years? As I said, I was stunned. Then I became deeply convicted. God showed me how I missed it. It was as if he waved his hands, and I saw my entire upbringing and the culture I live in. I was part of the generation that ushered in feminism and the emasculation of men. A common strategy in changing culture is to scream enough victim statements out; express sarcasm and disdain for one’s opponent constantly; and position the object of disdain in a compromising or humiliating light, regardless of truth or cost. Voilá! All of which was presented on TV, the perfect babysitter for the latch-key generation, my generation. With every year that passed, unbeknownst to me, my view of men/masculinity, diminished.

Fast forward decades into ministry, God has brought great transformation to my heart and mind. Through the writings of Dan Allender and John Eldredge, I found a renewed awe and respect for men, truly. God filled my heart with a genuine burden for the heart of men to be restored. I caught glimpses of God’s original glory in the masculine soul and deeply longed for its full manifestation. However, when confronted with the virility of God, I was deeply challenged and even more deeply convicted. Genuinely convicted. I was confronted with a part of the true masculine I had nothing but disdain for; it was this very virility that causes the warrior to rise up with enormous passion and ferocious fury. Think Braveheart. It is this kind of veracity that can show up in war and slay the dragon who is breathing fire over my soul. This is the God depicted in Zephaniah 3:17. Love ballads are wonderful, but in the midst of war, we need a warrior who is not afraid to draw a sword and wage violence against our enemies. The reality is that war is brutal. It is not fair. Its aim is death, destruction, and absolute control. That is a huge barbaric monster, and we need a bigger, more powerful, and fierce God to destroy the works of darkness plotting our complete domination or annihilation.

Yahuwah your God is in your midst (present with you),
the Mighty one (the all-powerful one who never loses),
will save (will fight, battle to the finish to defeat your foes and triumph): He will rejoice over you with gladness (the very thought of you causes Him to smile from every part of His being),
He will quiet (cause all objections, anxieties, fears,
and condemnation to cease) you with His love.
He will (passionately) dance (leap, skip and violently spin)
over you with singing.

So my brothers, let me apologize for judging your virility as foolish, non-essential, and archaic. I was wrong, very wrong. And for every woman who has ever misjudged these true masculine parts of your soul, please forgive us. I personally want to learn how to align and partner side by side with all aspects of the true masculine. Brothers, I invite you to turn towards your warrior God, see his face and shake off the emasculation and shame our society has placed upon you. Whether your strength is seen physically, mentally, emotionally, strategically, creatively, scientifically, artistically, academically, etc., please show up. Be you. Be who God created you to be. We need you.

1. Zephaniah 3:17 NLT, Biblegateway.com

2. Zephaniah 3:17 (Hebrew-Strong’s Concordance) Tim Rowe, Goodness of God Ministries

3. Strong’s Concordance

4. Wikipedia

5. Oxford Dictionary

6. Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hased and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Pres Books, 2018

7. Ann Voskamp, Waymaker (W Publishing Thomas Nelson, 2022, 33. As it appeared in Waymaker by Ann Voskamp.

Father, there are so many layers to this story. God, you are taking down strongholds of lies and replacing them with confounding truth. Would you break through every barrier in our souls and remove every wrong structure of unbelief that prevents each of us from receiving ALL of YOU? We need all of YOU, GOD, ALL of YOU! In Jesus’ Name, amen.

My Prayer for Us Today