![]() It would seem that I am at a loss as I come to this coversation about loss and expansion. I've been struggling to get any coherent thoughts streaming long enough to get them down in written form. So I revisited the articles that our Pretty&Wise women had written on this subject. After reading through these beautifully written articles, I am struck with wonder at the wisdom of these young women and their hearts on this matter. So I just want to highlight some things that struck me as I was reading and contemplating what ways loss can make room for and even fascilitate expansion in our lives. Angie wrote about loss of self in her article and two of her thoughts struck me. When we are willing to take the loss of self and surrender to Him, we get to be involved in the expansion of God's Kingdom. God calls us to lose ourselves so that He can expand His kingdom, His love, and His salvation in this broken world. God's expansion doesn't always look clear and make sense to us. Just this week I experienced hearing God speak clearly to me to do something that was a bit uncomfortable. To lay down my sense of self confidence...to lose a bit of myself. As the hubs and I were enjoying breakfast with friends at a nearby restaurant, God told me to pray for our waitress. Now...I sat there for a minute, because I knew He meant I was to pray for her so that she knew I was praying...not just say a little prayer as I sat there enjoying conversation with friends. I did not want to announce this to everyone at my table, so I waited for the right moment, or so I thought. There she was, standing by herself at the hostess counter. No one was in line waiting to be seated, so I uttered a weak, "Excuse me," to my table mates and walked over to the counter. As stepped up to tell my waitress that God had asked me to pray for her, I noticed that a line of patrons waiting to be seated had quickly formed in front of us. So, I asked her first name and said, "I can see that you are busy and I don't want to keep you from your work, but I just believe that you are experiencing pain and God wants me to pray for you." Now I'm not completely sure, but I believe she smirked when I said that. I could be wrong and it could have been a smile that I misread...but it really seemed as if she smirked. SMIRKED. I went back to my table and sat down and joined in the ongoing conversation with our friends. But the thought kept nagging at me. Why Lord? Didn't you ask me to pray for her...to let her know that I was praying for her? This was definitely nothing like what Beth Moore experienced when she listened to God's voice prompting her to brush a man's hair at the airport. (If you're not familiar with this story, go listen now: The Hair Brush). I'm certain that I did what I was supposed to do. I have written her name down and continued to pray for her. Because God said to pray. I may never know why or to what effect my simple action and prayers may have in the expansion of His Kingdom. I know that God's expansion sometimes takes unexpected pathways. He doesn't always gift us with the mystery of His ways wrapped up in the clarity of a hair(bush)bow. I can only trust Him because I know that HE KNOWS. In reading Olivia's article, When Surrender Feels Like Loss, once again I am reminded that when I surrender control over everything within the realm of my own influence and give it over to the Holy Spirit and His prompting...that giving up...that loss...becomes gain. Could it be instead that a surrender of control.. even a surrender so deep and transforming that it initially feels like a great loss.. could actually be a great gain? That it could be a beautiful expansion of faith; of obedience; of the Holy Spirit's work in and around us- for the Kingdom? Such wisdom. Lord, help me to give up my own selfish gain, to lose myself in obedience to you, to walk in surrender to you, so that your Kingdom may be expanded here on earth. Even, and most asurredly in the small things such as speaking up and praying for others. That's what Jonah did, eventually. He experienced some pretty serious loss and expansion as Lyndsay writes in her article Jonah's Loss and Expansion. I've done some study myself on Jonah's situation. The lesson I gleaned from this Minor Prophet in the Old Testament was a bit different than those Lyndsay shared with us in her article. I wrote about it here: Run to Him, but I love that she found such an important truth and am so thankful she shared it with us. I might have been thinking of Jonah more as the deadbeat prophet until I read these words of wisdom: It wasn’t until Jonah was ready to lose his life that God saved him. It wasn’t until Jonah was ready to give his life that God saved everyone else on that boat. And this: Even in Jonah’s sin, God was glorified. Even in Jonah’s disobedience, others were made right with God. But it took Jonah owning up to his sin, bringing to light his disobedience, and committing himself back to God for the others to be saved. I'm so thankful that we have the book of Jonah and all of God's Word to teach us that His compassion and grace and active presence in our lives are not given to us based on what we deserve, but on our responsive steps in the right direction. So...what is the right direction? This thought brings me to the final article, Loss/Expansion, from Alexandria. In her article she shares with us this verse, John 1:12(TPT), But those who embrace Him and took hold of His name He gave authority to become the children of God!And then she makes this observation, Embrace can only happen within proximity. We can only embrace someone if we are close to them. Close enough to hold. How often am I that close to God? ...everything in the Kingdom comes from proximity. It comes from being close to the Father. And there it is. The right direction is always a step closer toward our heavenly Father. A step closer to His leading through His word and through Holy Spirit's promptings. I just want to say thank you to my sister's at Pretty&Wise for allowing God to use you as you write to the Glory of God with wisdom that comes from His word and His leading. You have made possible the writing of this particular article . The loss I experienced in my writer's block allowed my vision to expand as I read and was blessed by your words. To you my reader, thank you for reading. You are here for a reason. So please allow me to pray for you...for us all. Father, I thank you for my sister/brother reading these words. I ask that you make yourself known to us in the midst of these uncertain times. I ask for your peace...the peace that doesn't always make sense in the midst of the crazy going on all around us. Help us all to take the time to pause and listen to You...through Your word...through Your gentle prompting throughout our days. Help us to see those who are suffering, and to know how we can reach out. I thank you, LORD, that You are good and that You work all things for the good of those who love You, and You work it all for your glory. I am comforted in the truth of these words...Your Word. I am humbled that you would use us to advance your Kingdom. I pray that you would open our eyes to see where we can join you in your work here on earth. I thank you that your words assure us that you will draw near to us if we would but draw nearer to you. I ask that You work through it all and in all for Your will to be accomplished...in the precious name of Jesus, Amen. Blessings, Gay WRITTEN BY: GAY IDLEFor more from Gay, head to her website: www.gayidle.com We want to connect with you and encourage you! Click here to join our community of women over at our Sisterhood Conversations page!
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![]() You know how sometimes you just can’t. We just can’t do anything right. We miss appointments. We miss communication. We forget to do something. Maybe it is because recent our life has been upside down and turned around. Maybe we have over committed. Maybe things have changed completely and totally out of our control. Either way at some point, I think most of us can relate to this on some level. If and/or when it happens in my life, I find it is really easy for me as woman to slip into the mindset of disappointment. It can make us feel like we are not enough, like we will never be enough. Like we have somehow failed and all of a sudden all of our accomplishments, all of our truth, all of how God sees us goes right out the window. Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do we so easily let the enemy come in with lies and make room for them while we lock our God given truths of who we are away? And we begin to allow our losses, our pain, our struggles to dictate where we are, how we act, and what we do. It seems that God is far and out of reach. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Rejoice Always Pray Continually Give Thanks In All Circumstances" At our church for the last year or so we have been very intentional about one thing. Everything is done in proximity. Abiding. Presence. Abiding in and with the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit. You see everything good in the Kingdom comes from proximity. It comes from being close to the Father. Not from good works, not even god-works (Matthew 7:21-23). It comes from nearness to the God who adopted us when we received Him. The more we are with the Father, the more fully we know we are the daughter, His daughter. We are not slaves; we are children. Let that sink in… We are His daughters. He is our Father. We have been completely and totally adopted into His family when we accept Jesus. But those who embrace Him and took hold of His name He gave authority to become the children of God!- John 1:12(TPT) I love the phrasing here. Can we sit on that for a moment… …those who embrace Him…took hold of His name… Embrace can only happen within proximity. We can only embrace someone if we are close to them. Close enough to hold. How often am I that close to God? So close that I can hear His heart beat. So close that I begin to look like Him. (Have you ever seen those photos when people look like their pets?LOL) I want to look more and more like my Daddy. The one who breathed out the stars. The one who created me in wonder. Who knows every strand on my head. So I have to get close. I have to lean in. I have be so full of God, so close that it leaves no room for the lies of the enemy. I am blessed and surrounded by amazing women in my church and my tribe. Women who speak their relationship with the Father not with their words, but by their actions. I am surrounded by women that I get to witness come closer and closer to the Father with every passing day. I have a tribe of women around me that regardless of what is going on in their lives they are actively pursuing the Father. They have tasted what it is to be a daughter of the King and they are shaking off the lies and titles that they have had placed on their lives by themselves and others around them. These amazing women are not afraid to shed the I am “highly blessed and favored” in the public and just be real. Just be open and honest about where they are in that moment. These woman have had hurts, been hurt, done the hurting, and with everyday they release more of that hurt and loss and receive more of the Father’s truth about who they are. These women are real with where they are at. They do not fear it. They do not dwell in it. Instead they walk it to the cross and lay it down. We will never be able to receive what God has for us if we are not first willing to lay down our hurts, our losses, our struggles, and open our arms to our Good Good Father. Embrace Him. He WILL embrace you! And I will promise you that it will be better than you could ever imagine. In Matthew 7:11 it says, "If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask him?” I was amazingly blessed growing up with a step-father who loved me as his own. He was and is an incredible role-model who gave and showed me love and still does to this day everyday. He raised me in such a way that Matthew 7:11 is not hard for me to believe, but instead quite easy. I can trust that Jesus meant what He said. That Father God is a Good loving Father. I understand that not everyone has had that same childhood… but sis… please take that chance… Give Father a chance to right the wrongs and breathe life and love into your world. To restore what the enemy has taken. Embrace Him and let Him embrace you. Who told you ‘you were not enough’? The Father says “YOU, you daughter have always been enough for Me.” He just wants us. He just wants you. Beautiful daughter, give Him a chance. It may not be what you think it should or look how you think it would, but give it to Him and He WILL make something good for you. Come close. Draw near. Abide. Embrace. Love you! Alexandria WRITTEN BY: ALEXANDRIA BROWNWe want to connect with you and encourage you! Click here to join our community of women over at our Sisterhood Conversations page!
![]() Lately, I’ve been reading my way through the minor prophets. To be honest, I have a hard time following many of the books without a commentary to help clear things up a bit. “What is God really getting at here?” “Is there any hope for Israel?” “These are terrifying consequences for their disobedience; how are they not turning back to God sooner?” These are the questions I find myself asking throughout these books. So much loss. So much pain. So much sin. So much disobedience. I just wrapped up the book of Jonah. I felt a sense of relief as I finally jumped into a book that I could understand without consulting a theologian immediately. As I was reading, the Lord opened my eyes to see Jonah’s story in the light of loss and expansion… Most of us who grew up in the Christian Church know his story. He was the guy who was told to go to Nineveh and ran way instead. Somehow, he got into the belly of a giant fish and stayed there for 3 days - ALIVE. When he was spit up on the shore, he finally obeyed God and went to Nineveh to preach. Nineveh was saved. That’s the gist of it. That’s what I understood for much of my younger years. That was the whole story, I thought. Well - save a few key pieces of the story. How about Jonah being thrown out of ship into stormy waters? How about when Jonah was angry that God was going to save Nineveh? Something that hit me differently while reading it this time was the part of the story when Jonah found himself in that boat. They came upon a huge storm that was growing worse and worse. It was such a terrible storm that the boat was almost ripped apart! I can’t imagine a storm that terrible. I don’t want to imagine it. When I was a teenager, I went on a cruise with my family. One night, on the ship, we hit a huge storm while at sea. The ship was rocking so badly, all the furniture on the deck was flying off into the ocean. Everyone was rushing to get back to the safety of their rooms, however the storm was so wild that we all had to crawl to our rooms - no one could stand to walk! I sat in the window sill of my room and pulled the curtains closed around me so I could see the ocean. Wild, angry waves were crashing everywhere. It was a terrible sight, but I knew we were safe. Our ship was so much larger than the waves. Sometimes, when life’s storms hit, we find ourselves in a tiny boat, like Jonah. It is so much smaller than the waves that we are threatened to be crushed and smashed to pieces by the storm. Our boat can’t withstand it. This is where Jonah found himself, but initially, he wasn’t aware of how much trouble was surrounding him. He was sleeping down in the bottom of the boat. Who could sleep in a storm like that? Everyone on the ship was praying to their gods, hoping that one of them was real and would stop the storm. Someone went to wake up Jonah and yelled, “PRAY TO YOUR GOD THAT HE MAY SAVE US!” Jonah realized why they hit this storm. It was his own disobedience. He had been running from the Lord, he was living in sinful defiance to God. He was faced with his own reality and that his sins were going to be the death of everyone around him if he did not do something about it. He told the men, “This is because of me. Throw me overboard and God will end this storm.” Hang on. This is where I was stuck. How in the world was Jonah able to say, “This is my fault; throw me overboard.” That was as good as saying, “Go ahead and kill me.” Then I heard the Lord ask me, “Lyndsay, do you feel the gravity of your sin the way Jonah did? He recognized the true consequences of sin. He FELT that death was the payment. Do you feel that?” Immediately, I felt conviction. For all my “regular, everyday” sins, I don’t feel that kind of grief. I don’t feel what those sins really cost to cover. I don’t feel the weight of what Jesus has done for me when I gossip, when I stretch the truth, when I lash out in anger, when I am deceitful, when I am lazy, when I am gluttonous. That is a loss I don’t allow myself to feel very often. I don’t think about what those “small” sins really cost. Someone has to be thrown into the wild and angry ocean to pay for those sins. And I deserve that. Like Jonah, I should be thrown in. YET GOD. He didn’t allow Jonah to die. Jonah proved his heart in that moment; he knew what he had done and how it had grieved the heart of God. He knew he sinned against the LORD. He knew the cost of his sin and he was ready to pay. He wasn’t going to run away anymore. The LORD saved Jonah - in an unconventional and uncomfortable and unlovely way, yes - but He saved him nonetheless! There’s so much more to unpack here in this story of Jonah’s life, but we’ll just hang out here today letting it all sink into our hearts and spirits. How are you running from God? Do you feel the weight of your disobedience? Do you really know and feel the cost? God is gracious and merciful. Just like He prophesied to Israel time and time again, if we would just turn our hearts back to Him and quit running to other lesser gods. If we would just praise His name again and obey Him again, He will save us. It may be a big, smelly fish, but it’s still salvation. It may be unconventional, uncomfortable, and unlovely, but it’s still salvation. It may be a baby in a manger to a poor family and an unwed mother, but it’s still salvation. It wasn’t until Jonah was ready to lose his life that God saved him. It wasn’t until Jonah was ready to give his life that God saved everyone else on that boat. And not just physically either. When the storm stopped, the men realized they had been worshipping false gods all along and have now seen the TRUE God. They bowed down and started to worship the LORD. Even in Jonah’s sin, God was glorified. Even in Jonah’s disobedience, others were made right with God. But it took Jonah owning up to his sin, bringing to light his disobedience, and committed himself back to God for the others to be saved. What might God do with your life when you quit running from him, bring to light your sin, and commit yourself back to Him? How might people around you come to believe in the TRUE God because of your repentance? How might the Kingdom of God EXPAND because of your obedience? Jonah was ready to lose everything. Jonah really felt the loss. And it was that LOSS that made way for EXPANSION. The men in the boat were saved. Then the whole city of Nineveh was saved from destruction. All because Jonah decided to quit running and start obeying. Will you quit running today? WRITTEN BY: Lyndsay TerryRead more from Lyndsay @ www.lyndsayterry.com
We want to connect with you and encourage you! Click here to join our community of women over at our Sisterhood Conversations page! ![]() Earlier this week, I was treated to a massage. And wow, was it a treat! This mama carries alllll of the tension and stress in her neck and shoulders. And you know, lately I've noticed myself holding more and more tension in other areas of my body. Maybe you can relate? There's just been so much going on! So I was lying down, enjoying an hour to myself to relax.. and I was even praising God for this gift of rest and restoration.. when my sweet masseuse interrupted my closed-eye prayers of thanksgiving, saying expectantly, "Relax!" I opened my eyes, thinking to myself, "What? I was relaxing!" She was holding one of my arms up, which I now realized was not in fact relaxed. In fact, it was quite tense; almost just paralyzed midair. I made a conscious effort to relax and it made maybe a little progress. Not enough, apparently, since this patient servant-woman chided me again: "Relax. Deep breath in: now let it out. Relax, mama. Let me do all of the work." I really did try, you guys. I tried my best to breathe deeply and pray and periodically loosen up my wound-tight muscles for the rest of our time together. And she did some serious work on my shoulders, with orders to come back in 3 weeks to continue working out the knots. But days later, I'm still thinking about this. I'm thinking that my ever tense muscles may be a symptom of a deeper need of release. Yes, release. Release; to set free. Why, in this instance, does release feel like loss? I consider myself to be pretty laid back and flexible. If I'm being totally honest, I generally feel like surrender is an easy thing to do. Okay, it's hard, yes, but I mean, how faithful is the Lord? How trustworthy and mighty and able is He? Isn't He sovereign? To yield to the Lord God Almighty is altogether better than anything I could conceive or produce in and of myself! And yet I seem to find myself unable to release control. In the days after the massage revelation, my eyes were opened to instances of my desire for control:
After my blunders of becoming so overwhelmed and overcome by fear and then in turn attempting to regain control of these situations myself, God so graciously intervened and:
In all of these instances, I essentially, perhaps unknowingly(?), took in these circumstances surrounding me, decided that things were not as they should be and then declared that I could fix them. (Okay, quick note: I just google searched for a synonym for 'to take in' and wound up with a definition for 'to take-in': an act of taking in especially by deceiving. Oof) I don't want to be deceived into thinking that all around me is my burden alone to carry. I don't want to be deceived into thinking that surrender of control is loss. Could it be instead that a surrender of control.. even a surrender so deep and transforming that it initially feels like a great loss.. could actually be a great gain? That it could be a beautiful expansion of faith; of obedience; of the Holy Spirit's work in and around us- for the Kingdom? The story of the bleeding woman has been on my heart for a couple of weeks now. This woman, come to the end of herself. This woman, who tried it all, gave it all, year after year after year. This woman, desperate for healing. This woman, risking the loss of the little she had left. Risking all she had left, risking defiling and contaminating the crowd she slipped into as she was considered unclean- this woman raced toward great loss in the eyes of the world. In Jesus' eyes, however, this woman He turned to find, having gone through with her decision to simply touch the hem of His cloak; well, this woman and her actions and desperation for just a touch signified great gain in His Kingdom. This woman, once avoided- now sought out. This woman, once outcast- called Daughter. This woman, instead of being chastised and cast out- praised for her faith. This woman, once suffering with no end and no relief in sight- made well. Healed. Her loss made room for an expansion only possible with Christ Jesus. Please hear my heart on this- I am well aware of the stark difference between this story of a massage and this story of the bleeding woman. I just pray that we see any thing that the Lord may be calling and convicting us to lay down, no matter how difficult and no matter the cost, as worth the surrender and the sacrifice in order to have more of Him. My soul cries out, "Have it all, King Jesus; I only want more of You!" Oftentimes my flesh cries out in protest louder. My aching shoulders are a testament to that. But I'm more sure now than ever that if I'm willing to lose this battle for control over: my life, my relationships, my plans my desires: to be comfortable, liked, accepted; to be in control when all seems out of control If I'm willing to die to these things, I know I will gain Jesus in ways I can only begin to dream of. If there's anything I know about Jesus, it's that anytime we come to Him in humility and in faith, He doesn't just give us what we came for. He doesn't just give us what we asked Him for. He doesn't just let us slip under the radar, daring only for a touch of His outer garments. He turns to us, looks us in the face even, and gives us every bit of Him we didn't even realize we needed. More than healing, more than any unfathomably good gift He could give us. Yes, more than anything, we get more of Jesus than we could have anticipated. We get more of the Father. We get more of the Holy Spirit. That expansion of Heaven on Earth alone is worth anything we could lose. Lord, let us in faith now lay what feels like loss to surrender, our idols, at Your feet. And Lord, let us continue to walk in that surrender, not picking these idols back up, moment by moment, day by day. And Lord, let Your presence in our lives expand exponentially in the place of these counterfeits. Amen. WRITTEN BY: Olivia CaldwellPhoto by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash We want to connect with you and encourage you! Click here to join our community of women over at our Sisterhood Conversations page!
![]() It could hardly be called a ”battle”. At least not at first. Marching around in circles in full armor for six days looking like they were confused. Then, after doing that one more day, blowing on horns and then yelling. It seemed like more of a parade than a battle. And then something amazing happened. The mighty wall fell. Just like that. Crumbled. And then the real battle began as the city inside the wall was completely destroyed. All the people, cattle, sheep, and donkeys. Not a single person was left alive with the exception of a prostitute and her family. The loss of an entire city in such a brief and violent way was the way that God handled the sin of the city of Jericho in Joshua 6. The chapter starts with God telling Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” This was before anything even happened! He knew what would follow. God then gives some of the strangest instructions we might have ever read for an army. But Joshua knew that this great loss of men, women, and children was going to lead to something that was greater than his understanding. Sometimes loss or defeat seem confusing and overwhelming. We see it everyday if we watch the news or tune into social media. We read of earthquakes, fires, murder, war, and other attrocities that happen. Sometimes these things seem so far away. Other times they hit close to home. There is not a person in this world that hasn’t faced loss in one form or another. For me, the greatest loss that I have faced was loss of knowing who I am. For years, I just went through the motions of church. It was religion, not worship. It was habit, not holy. I am certainly not saying that I am perfect and in tune with what God wants me to do all the time. I still wander away from time to time and have to find my way back. But the time I am talking about was different. I was at a complete loss to know how to even approach God’s throne or call myself his daughter. For a while I convinced myself that I didn’t care and that it didn’t matter, but it did. And certainly from the outside, no one would have known how deep my loss went. But one day, my wall fell. Just like the wall in Jericho. The only survivor was the little girl inside that Jesus had been calling too. As sinful as Rahab the prostitute. As devastated as if my entire world had just been burned to the ground. And to be honest, just like Jericho, I couldn’t even put up a fight. When Jesus breaks open that rock hard heart there is no resisting his spirit. (Hallelujah!) After Joshua and his army had finished with the broken city of Jericho, we read in Joshua 6:27, “So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.” I am sure that was pretty awesome. To be famous throughout the land. But I don’t think that is why Joshua obeyed God. It had to do with the expansion of God’s kingdom, His people, and His plan. The same can be said for us. When we are willing to take the loss of self and surrender to Him, we get to be involved in an expansion of His kingdom. What better work could there be? That kingdom expansion can include your spouse who might not have a strong faith, your children, your parents, your friends, and your co-workers. It can also include the tired barista you just ordered coffee from, or the depressed cashier at the grocery store, or the homeless family huddled together at the intersection. God’s expansion doesn’t always look clear and make sense to us. Just like Joshua, we are told that HE has already won and we are to obey. We have to be in tune with the spirit and ready to listen to the seemingly insane instructions from him. You want me to WHAT? I am not so sure God. I don’t know what to say. You are in good company, sister. Neither did Moses. (Exodus 3:10-14) But God, I have never done that before! I don’t know how to! Guess what? Neither did Mary when she was told she was going to give birth to and raise the Messiah. (Matthew 1:18-25) But if I do that, Lord, won’t I get in trouble or lose friends? His disciples left EVERYTHING and followed him in a moment. I can imagine they had trouble and loss based on that decision. (Matthew 4:18-20) God calls us to lose ourselves so that he can expand His kingdom, His love, and His salvation in this broken world. That prostitute that watched the loss of her entire city? God used her for expansion. She became part of the bloodline that we trace to Jesus. That broken girl that thought she could never find her way back to the throne? She is still allowing God to work. But she knows now that loss leads to amazing expansion in Him and she is excited to see what He is calling her to do in the future. Friends, allow yourself to be lost in Him so that he can expand your vision to include His. His way is so much better. Photo by Valdemaras D. on Unsplash Written By: Angie ReeseWe want to connect with you and encourage you! Click here to join our community of women over at our Sisterhood Conversations page!
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