So another, Saturday came along on this month long journey in Kenya. The day before our second and final service at Logos Celebration Miracle Church, where Shayna, one of my teammates and I were to prepare the Women’s Workshop message. Another Sunday at a loss for words on what to share as a unmarried woman to the married women of the church. What to share God?
Jokingly, I asked Lydia, my host sister, Lydia if she would give the message, she laughed, then paused, and then began telling me that many of the women have no hope. They labor all day with little return, many live in poverty, their own children don’t respect them, husbands have left them, husbands may beat them. “Maybe, maybe you could share a message of hope.”
Okay God, what does a message of hope look like? What can I share with these women? I started in the concordance of my Bible, starting with one verse, God gave me a total of four. God will you give me the words to share with these verses?
Isaiah 54:4-7
4 "Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;
don't be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will no longer remember
the disgrace of your widowhood.
5 For your husband is your Maker
His name is Yahweh of Hosts
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
He is called the God of all the earth.
6 For the LORD has called you,
like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,
a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,"
says your God.
7 "I deserted you for a brief moment,
but I will take you back with great compassion.
– The Lord Almighty is your husband
– He has redeemed you
– He desires you
- You may feel rejected, unloved, hopeless at times, but He will fight for you because He loves you!
Lamentations 3:19-24
19 Remember my affliction and my homelessness,
the wormwood and the poison.
20 I continually remember [them]
and have become depressed.
21 Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 [Because of] the LORD's faithful love
we do not perish,
for His mercies never end.
23 They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!
24 I say: The LORD is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in Him.
- Life is full of hardship, daily battles (trials with money, life’s petty jobs, jobs that require us to wake before dawn and stay up long past sunset; children who lack respect, husbands filled with frustration and regret) We take the blame, we take it on as the woman of our household
– There is hope; we have God’s love
– We need not let the struggles of this world consume us
– His compassion never fails
– New mercies every morning; rest in His faithfulness
-
No matter what this earth lays on our path, the Lord is our portion, wait on Him, He meets our needs when nothing else does.
I Peter 1:6-9
-
6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials 7so that the genuineness of your faith —more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
– Trials that we face, bring about genuine faith, greater than even the greatest earthly wealth
– Bringing praise, glory, and honor to Jesus Christ
- He can fill you with joy and hope when nothing seems to go right
– God’s ultimate goal is the salvation of our souls. There’s hope in that! Hallelujah!
I Peter 5:10-11
10 Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little. 11 To Him be the dominion forever. Amen.
– Trials may make us feel weak and not successful
– However, He will restore us, making us strong, firm, and steadfast. Amen!
I ended with telling about a story, my friend, sister, and teammate, Elizabeth shared with me about a ministry where they prayer walked through the city’s storm drain. An analogy was made that the rain water from the city traveled downhill to the storm drains and filled the low places and pooled there. This prevented the city from flooding and my interpretation of this analogy serves as a reminder that when you are feeling low and you need to be filled up, the sweet mercies of heaven will rain down and fill the low places. That is when God’s grace is the strongest
God blessed me with a message of hope. I learned so much through this experience and I am learning that God speaks to me and through me. I am so amazingly blessed by what God has done this month, month 1 of 11. What are the next 10 going to hold? Hold on to my seat, I guess =)
Thank you all for taking some time and reading the words God blessed me and the women of LCMC. Thank you for all of your posted comments and prayers. They make my heart so happy. Overwhelmingly so.
