There are moments in time that just sort of grab you and you know you’ll never forget them. I had one of those moments last Monday evening. I was in a meeting with the 30-or-so women from our church who will be leading the tables at our women’s Bible study on Monday nights this Fall.
I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love this group of women. Some of them are my dearest friends. Some of them I’m only just getting to know. All of them… I just adore their hearts. They are a collection of women from various walks and seasons of life. Beautiful in their differences. But there is one thing that brings them together – a heart to help other women know God better through studying His Word.
They’re not all Biblical scholars. None of them are getting paid or receiving awards for their service. They’re not all extroverts who just feed on group time.
They’re just faithful women who are committed to pouring over their own Bibles and want to help other women do that same thing. They want to create a safe place for asking questions or talking about conviction and lifechange. They want to wrestle a bit with the content of these words from God. Why? So that we can all know the heart of our Lord just a little bit better.
I’ll teach from up front and share the things God lays on my heart from our study. I’ll speak out over 200 or so women with Spirit-filled passion and hope that something connects at a heart level. But, these women will sit at their tables and talk nitty-gritty. They’ll take the words from the pages of God’s Holy Bible and rub them up against real lives in more personal ways. They’ll wade into the muck of life with their little table of women in ways that I can’t from up front.
This is why I adore them. Why I love them so much.
But, can I tell you about the moment that really grabbed me from our time together last Monday? It was listening to them pray. Hearing them go before the Lord and ask Him for very specific things. For tender, teachable hearts. For God’s grace as we talk about hard truths. For deep connection among women at the tables. For God’s glory and renown in our community.
It was so powerful for me to sit back and listen to their requests.
Because they know that if God’s not in it, doing His thing, it will be a waste of all our time. We can have the most polished and well-prepared study the world has ever seen. Registration can run tight. Our numbers can be high. We can welcome newcomers like a boss. And have a seat for every single woman who wants to come. I can teach with fervor. But, if it’s all about US and what WE can do, it will all be for naught.
If God is in it though… If He does what only He can do… well, that’s a whole ‘nother thing entirely.
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