“May the God of peace … equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ” Hebrews 13:20-21
Those words give the background for our new name as a Bible Study ministry – Equip Her. We aim to equip YOU with tools you’ll need to become a WOMAN OF GOD.
I realize you may see your role or title as something different from WOMAN OF GOD when you join us here each week.
You may be more focused today on what it takes to be a mother…
You may have come here to find a new friend …
Perhaps you’re hoping for some advice in being a wife …
Those are all important roles with great purpose, but above all those, we long to see you become a WOMAN OF GOD.
My conviction about that started 19 years ago. My marriage was young and we had planned to start a family. I was excited to call myself a wife and looking forward to becoming a mother until loss entered my life when our first son died shortly after birth on Jan. 21, 1994.
I remember meeting with our pastor and asking him, now what?
Now, who am I? I’ve put all my energy into becoming something that I’m NOT. His answer – and my response – changed the course of my life:
You are a still a woman of God, Shereen … and you are still a wife.
Put your energy into being a woman of God.
And, as God would have it, even back then, I was involved in this women’s Bible study, and I did pour my broken-hearted, 20-something self into learning what it meant to be a woman of God.
Look back at the verse up top and notice with me 3 important truths that a woman of God knows:
The Peace of God:
When the world is chaotic, you are at peace with God – standing in His presence with nothing to fear.
Peace has nothing to do with the season of life you’re in or the circumstances around you. Peace is a Person. God’s peace is found in Jesus.
Is Jesus your Peace?
The Purpose of God:
The part of the verse that reads “equip you with everything good for doing His will,” reveals His purpose.
Isaiah 55 gives us an idea of how God equips us …
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
How long does it take for rain & snow to produce bread?
Can we trace a drop of rain to a grain of wheat that will eventually be part of a loaf of bread on our table? We cannot … God can!
If God can do that, I can trust Him and His purpose for my life.
How about you?
Becoming a woman of God is allowing God’s Word to permeate my life. I know who God is. That knowledge soaks deep into my soul and changes me from the inside out.
The Pleasure of God:
Do you feel the delight of God? This is a deeply personal thing, isn’t it? When you are in a deep and growing relationship with your heavenly Daddy you understand that He delights in you.
Today, as a 40-something woman of God, I’m noticing the ways God’s Word has watered my life. I see how God is growing something new in me.
Since that loss 19 years ago, God has allowed me to be a woman of God to my loving husband and 3 wonderful sons. Yet, over the past 2 years, my life has been filled with challenges as one of our sons has battled addiction. The journey of letting go of our son, so he can learn to live healthy and whole as God’s son, has shown me that God’s ways are NOT my ways. I’ve often disagreed with the WAY God’s handling things – it’s painful, it’s messy, it’s embarrassing.
Meeting with a friend a couple months ago, I recounted some lost dreams.
- I had hoped to be visiting colleges with my son; instead we have court dates.
- I had planned to be meeting recruiters; instead we are in contact with probation officers.
- I had thought we’d be filling out financial aid forms; instead we’ve been filling out drug and alcohol evaluations.
And God has spoken to my heart in the way only God can speak. “I am with you in all those places. When you find hope there, you can lead others to find hope in their lives too.”
Even in that deep disappointment as a mother and as a wife, I have sensed the pleasure of God as a woman of God.
Hope has watered my life as I’ve been in the Word, as I’ve listened to the Spirit, as I’ve met with spiritual friends. Hope has soaked deeply into my soul and multiplied. So on that day when I might have wallowed in disappointment, instead I feasted on a freshly baked loaf of true HOPE.
Equip Her 