In celebration of Nancy's Voices of the True Woman Movement book release, we asked a few staff members and friends of the ministry to share their reflections on different chapters of the book. This is part 2 of a nine-part series. Enjoy!
I can vividly remember the conversation I had with my husband at the ripe old age of 31. We were discussing how amazing it was that even though we knew scripture indicated there would be hardship, adversity, and even suffering in the lives of believers, we must just be immune to that malady. Or, maybe God just had a special dispensation for Billy and Holly Elliff. Oh my, I was so naïve!
About six months later, the Lord enrolled me in a school that I am still attending . . . the school of God’s all-encompassing sovereignty—in the face of real trials. I’ll have to admit that although I desired to walk deeply with the Lord, I wouldn’t have registered willingly for that course.
I have discovered that whether we realize it or not, we are constantly being exposed to God’s sovereignty. It’s just that some of us are willing to recognize it now, and some of us will recognize it someday on the threshold of heaven.
Nancy explains this in chapter 2 of her newest release, Voices of the True Woman Movement, based on Paul’s life experiences from the book of Romans:
“This passage provides a framework and context for our lives as women. It gives us a fixed reference point for our hearts. It tethers us to God’s ultimate, eternal purposes. It gives us a perspective–a grid–for responding to His sovereign choices in our lives, especially those we cannot understand or explain.”
If you are breathing, at some point there will be a moment in your life when you have absolutely NO idea what the Lord is doing, why He doesn’t seem to be following your life plan, and whether or not He is worthy of your trust.
At those difficult, obscure moments we are faced with a choice. Will we resist and resent the circumstances God has allowed to touch our lives? Will we insist on holding God hostage when we face deep hurts? Or, will we choose to recognize our inability to survive in our own strength, and the unfathomable depths of God’s grace and wisdom?
Nancy describes this moment for us:
“. . . perhaps you are there–where everything feels hopeless and pointless and impossible to handle. This is where many women give up and call it quits, or slink away into a pit of bitterness, or turn their frustration on those nearest them–anything to cope with life at the bottom.
"But the true woman knows that deeper than her own limitations and problems is the bedrock of God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge. His unseen yet sovereign, eternal purposes are underneath it all, holding it all together.”
The apostle Paul wrote these God-breathed words for our benefit:
Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?” For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)
For some of us, it’s time to recognize that God enrolled us in His academy a long time ago and we are delinquent students, unwilling to learn. How foolish it would be for us to waste the moments God has given us during our time on earth, to refuse to live our lives to give Him glory.
Nancy ends this chapter with these three statements:
1) A true woman lives a God-centered life.
2) A true woman trusts God.
3) A true woman says “yes, Lord.”
Are these things true of my life and your life? Can we say with Paul, “FROM HIM AND THROUGH HIM AND TO HIM ARE ALL THINGS” . . . and I am glad!
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