Kingdom Woman: Embracing Your Purpose, Power, and Possibilities (22 page)

John 15:8 says, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” My sister, if you are a Christian, you have a new identity, and you are called to bear fruit. And while that looks different for each one of us depending on the stage of life that God has us in, the principle is consistent with Matthew 28:19, where we are told to make disciples.

Imagine that we are apple trees, and we want to produce as abundant a harvest as possible. The best way to do that is to not just attempt to grow more apples but to produce more apple trees! It is to God’s glory for us to do all we can to further His agenda and His kingdom. But one day each of us will no longer be on this earth. Our “apple trees” will eventually wither and die. The only way to ensure that God’s vision for biblical womanhood continues is to pass it on to another woman who can continue to bear fruit and plant new seeds to grow new “trees.” Just as God has designed all living things to reproduce physically, so He wants His people to reproduce spiritually.

Your season may determine the flavor of your fruit, but it should not determine the level of your fruitfulness.

Training Disciples

You know, Jesus could have easily made His earthly ministry a solo act, traveling the country alone as He preached, healed, and taught. Instead, He chose to take twelve men under His wing and train them to carry on His message after He returned to the Father. Jesus’ twelve disciples became the founders of the early church, and they in turn trained others to make disciples of all nations. Jesus’ planting of the gospel into the hearts of twelve men continues to bear fruit all over the world today.

So what exactly did Jesus do? What can we learn from His example?

First, Jesus spent
time
with His disciples. He was accessible. In John 1:37–39, two of
the disciples followed Jesus and wanted to know where He was staying. “ ‘Come,’ [Jesus] replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where He was staying, and spent that day with Him.”

I know that many of us struggle with having enough time to spend with ourselves, much less other people! We are busy, tired, overworked, and stressed out. However, we cannot allow the pace of the world to dictate the pace at which we operate—especially if that pace gets in the way of God’s mandates to us as followers of Jesus.

When I was in school, my teachers would request two things in my early years of writing instruction: (1) Leave margin on the left and right sides of the paper, and (2) skip a line. My teachers asked me to do both things for one reason. They wanted room to write too! They wanted to be able to make corrections, give me suggestions, and add in better ways to state my thoughts or make my point. Let me tell you that God wants the same thing. He wants you to live in a way that leaves room for Him to tell you how to spend your time, whom to spend time with, and how to best express yourself in the context of engaging others. Leave margin—make room for the activities and people whom God wants in your life.

I know what you are thinking.
What about m
e
? What about my time?
Once again, let’s look at the life of Christ. Our Savior did make time to withdraw and get away to be with the Father. But the key here is that Jesus spent the time He had available doing things that were important to the Father. He knew He was operating on a limited amount of time, and He knew He couldn’t afford to waste even one minute doing something that didn’t matter for eternity. We don’t have that luxury either.

Psalm 62:5 says, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him” (
KJV
). When we consider our time as His, God will not only tell us how to spend it but will also provide the rest and refreshment we need. We cannot busy ourselves doing good things and then use those good things as an excuse for skipping God’s best things. He has been clear in His Word about what the best things are.

Second, Jesus
trained
the disciples. In Luke 11, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and Jesus modeled what prayer should look like. For whom can you be a model? What have you learned or been through that you can teach another woman so she doesn’t have to learn the hard way?

Mothers, are you training your children? Bringing up children is a purposeful and intentional job. It doesn’t happen by osmosis because you send them to Sunday school. In the book
Professionalizing Motherhood,
Jill Savage challenges mothers to take the job of raising children as seriously as any work-for-pay job. She implies that, in doing so, mothers have the power to make an astounding impact on their children for the kingdom of God.

If you are a “seasoned” woman who is glad to be retired or free, that doesn’t disinherit you from the same job of training and modeling for other women. What young woman are you critical of regarding her behavior, attitude, or dress? Do you model the conduct and disposition of a woman who loves Jesus? Do you have a kind word of encouragement for young women in your sphere of influence? Training and modeling are not acts of judgment or criticism but actions focused on reaching the heart of another and gently leading someone else to a higher place in Christ.

Are you a woman who has achieved success in the workplace? How do you share your wisdom and experience with others who are working to use their gifts, talents, and abilities for God’s glory? What have you learned about discovering and building your strengths and maximizing your potential?

The possibilities are endless. Every woman has learned something no matter how far down the road she has gone. The question is not whether there is someone you can disciple, train, or model. You just have to stop and ask the Lord who that person is!

Who does the Lord bring to mind as you are reading this book right now? A family member, a younger woman, a friend, a child even? What connection is God asking you to make?

Last, Jesus
serve
d
His disciples. John 13:5 tells the story of how Jesus, Son of the living God, part of the Holy Trinity, washed the feet of those who followed Him. He had no hang-ups about who He was, where He came from, what He was entitled to, or what others owed Him. He served because in doing so, He illustrated the greatest act of true maturity—the willingness to make oneself available to another. Jesus, the same Jesus who sits at the right hand of God, humbled Himself and did what He didn’t have to do.

Jesus did a seemingly small thing when He washed the disciples’ feet, but it was that same spirit of humble servanthood that enabled Him to bear all of our burdens on the cross. Jesus didn’t bear His own burden; He was willing to bear the burden of others who didn’t deserve His sacrifice. And in doing so, He pointed many people to the love of Father God.

So who are you being a spiritual mother to—especially in your local church? Where are you bringing the words of Scripture to life in your everyday activities? Every day women are being born into the church. They are new to the Christian faith, new to marriage, new to single parenting, new to being single again, new to a second career, new to motherhood, new to healthy living, new to your church. Many of them are asking, “Are you my mother?” They want to know if you will make the time to disciple them, train them, serve them, and point them toward the Lord.

You may be wondering what spiritual motherhood and Titus 2 mentoring should look like in the context of the local church. One way our church attempts to provide a platform for mentoring to take place is through small groups. Women meet twice a month for fellowship and encouragement as they discuss the application of truth based on the sermon.

Another way that we encourage spiritual connection and fellowship is through special classes geared to addressing women’s needs. Some of those classes are based on a season of life like motherhood, marriage, or becoming a godly woman. Other classes are focused on healing and recovery from tough situations like addiction, emotional struggles, or debt. These are classes that while only lasting for a certain period of time provide an opportunity for women to link up with others in our body who are walking the same road they are.

In these classes, women share the benefits of their experience using their gifts (whether that be in hair styling, cooking, organizing, or the like) with other women. The church is a wonderful place where you can utilize the gifts God has given to you! Sometimes that might mean getting creative or discovering new ways to use your experiences and expertise in life to impact others, strengthen the church, or advance the kingdom. God has given you specific gifts to be used for His purposes within His body of believers. Using your gifts and expertise is essential to building the church.

Last, the women make time to have fun together through women’s events held throughout the year. Our annual women’s conference is one of those events and launches our women’s ministry for the next calendar year. It is followed up with “Titus 2 Super Saturdays,” where the women gather twice a year for a full day of fellowship, including a general assembly, interactive talk times, and sessions on various topics, common interests, hobbies, and seasons of life. Then they make sure to leave time for
fun
! Social outings and get-togethers help the women get to know each other and live life together, making sure that no woman at the church stands alone.

A Kingdom Woman’s Ministry

Keep in mind that ministering to others and loving one another with the gifts and skills that God has given to you should extend past the church’s walls. Helping children in need is a good place to start. Children living in a nuclear family today are now a minority. Having the “luxury” of living in a two-parent home is not a reality for most children. Single parents often have to work two jobs just to make ends meet, and they can’t be at home as much as they’d like to be. This lack of parental mentoring can leave a gaping hole in the emotional and spiritual lives of their children.

One way that you as a kingdom woman can positively impact society is by partnering you’re your church in a localized outreach to public schools. That could include mentoring, tutoring, or providing any other form of family support service. The National Church Adopt-a-School Initiative trains churches and church leaders how to carry out this localized missional model. It is a scalable approach to maximizing the gifts and skills of the body of Christ and leveraging them for the kingdom. (see The Urban Alternative appendix for more information.)

Each kingdom woman has a ministry to another woman through the local church. It’s a matter of prayer and God’s leading to figure out what discipleship looks like for you. Your job is to seek the Lord for His wisdom in knowing what you have received, experienced, or endured in your life that would be a blessing to someone else. If you need discipling, your job is also to pray for God to direct you to a woman who can share her life with you and help grow you up in your faith so that you can experience all of the possibilities that God has intended for your life.

12

The year was 1955; the location Montgomery, Alabama. The environment reeked of racial toxicity predominantly manifested in the segregation of the Jim Crow South. Although mere inches separated row eleven from the whites-only seating area on the bus driven by James F. Blake, it represented an abyss that existed between the equality and justice experienced by white and black citizens at that time.

Sitting in row eleven was a quiet, introverted, yet determinedly strong woman named Rosa Parks. A white man boarded the bus, and the driver—a man who had previously taken Rosa’s money and driven off before she could board the back entrance of the bus—sought to demean her one more time. Rosa recognized his face as he turned to tell her to get up and move so that the white man could sit down. Who could forget those eyes, steel-like and unfeeling?

Rosa had just attended a course on social and economic injustice earlier in the year, a course in which nonviolent protests had been emphasized. Yet as a lead investigator assigned to sexual-assault cases against black women by white men for the previous decade, including the infamous gang rape of Recy Taylor, Rosa knew full well what noncompliance could ultimately lead to. She had every right to seek self-preservation and move.

Even so, Rosa would later remark that the memory of the brutally slain young black boy Emmett Till at the hands of white men played prevalently
in her mind when James F. Blake told her to move. And because of that, she couldn’t do it—no matter what risk she took.

So Rosa Parks remained seated in row eleven.

They say that actions speak louder than words, and you can tell what someone truly believes by what he or she does. Rosa’s lips never offered an explanation to the white man standing with an air of entitlement beside her, waiting to sit down. Yet the forty-two-year-old woman’s actions spoke with such great volume that an entire nation couldn’t help but hear.
[39]

Her simple yet profound decision to refuse to give up her seat to a white man who had demanded it, to no longer accept the indignity of second-class citizenship, and instead to proclaim both her value and rights as a child of God altered the trajectory of America forever. This one act led to the birthing and maturing of the Civil Rights Movement as we know it, improving the lives of countless individuals simply because Rosa decided to both maintain and retain her dignity.

Rosa, and her husband, Raymond, never had any biological children of their own. Yet she will forever be remembered as the mother of the Freedom Movement. Her children are legion. Her influence acute, and her legacy significant.

As a kingdom woman, you have been called to take care of yourself, support your family, raise your children, and honor your husband, but you have also been called to make a maximum impact for God’s kingdom. You are not to deny the other purposes in your life, but you are not to limit yourself to them either. A kingdom woman has a destiny that extends beyond her home—the legacy you leave with your community and possibly even your nation and the world.

Esther

Just as God raised up a woman named Rosa to set in motion the single largest cultural shift in American history, God used women throughout Scripture to not only impact their communities but also to impact the nation. One of those women was Esther.

Esther was a diva. In the book bearing her name, she is described as a woman “lovely in form and features” (2:7). Her name means “star.” Whatever the gene pool happened to be that brought about this kingdom woman named Esther, it definitely worked in her favor.

Yet despite Esther’s intrinsic blessings, she faced a number of extrinsic obstacles. Orphaned as a young child, Esther was raised by her uncle Mordecai. Living as a minority race in a foreign land, without much money to their name, Esther and Mordecai faced insurmountable odds of ever breaking through the Persian glass ceiling.

However, Esther would break through the glass ceiling with her own Cinderella glass-slipper experience. Winning the heart of the king through a long process set up to locate the next queen, after King Xerxes had banned Queen Vashti from her role, Esther obtained the honor of being called the new queen of Persia.

To put it mildly, our girl Esther was living large.

Not long after her rise to royalty, Esther faced a dilemma. Her own people had been set up for annihilation by the evil Haman through a legal and irreversible decree that her husband, the king, had signed. Esther soon discovered, through the enlightenment of Uncle Mordecai, that she had risen to a position of power “for such a time as this” (4:14).

After Esther’s initial hesitation to risk her own life on behalf of her people, Mordecai explained to her that if she did not stand up at this time, then God would raise up someone else to be the deliverer. Esther took Mordecai’s words to heart, asked those around her to fast and pray for three days, and then approached the king to seek his favor, at the risk of losing her own life.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, the king extended his golden scepter, Esther’s life was preserved, and she eventually went on to win the right of her people, the Israelites, to defend themselves against the onslaught. As a result, the Israelites took up arms, not only defending themselves, but also ultimately defeating their aggressors, while the evil Haman was hung on the same gallows he had built for Mordecai.

Esther’s bravery and courage, as well as her position of influence, made her a kingdom woman with whom to be reckoned. She single-handedly secured the right to safety for an entire people group.

Although this story comes from a long time ago in a kingdom far away, the principles from Esther’s life are as relevant as if the events occurred today. Have you ever wondered that perhaps God has you here in His kingdom “for such a time as this”? Have you ever considered the possibilities of your own power, through Christ, to impact not only your family, church, and community, but possibly your nation as well?

God’s kingdom involves His rule, His purposes, and His agenda. In the kingdom, one overarching principle rings true: You are blessed in order to be a blessing. You are freed in order to set free. You are redeemed in order to redeem.

Maybe you have been blessed with an excellent education or a favorable physical appearance or even a good life. Whatever it is that God has given you—be it a talent, gift, or unique capacity in life—He has done it on purpose. Not so you will hoard your blessings, but so you can use the position He has given you to bring about His purposes in the lives of others around you.

Chrystal’s Chronicles

The Samaritan woman was startled when Jesus spoke directly to her. And she should have been. In that day and age, Jews did not associate with Samaritans. They were the underclass, the despised, the second-rate citizens. In John 4:9, she said, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”

Samaritans were not considered to be of “pure” ancestry. They were not considered true descendants of the Jewish patriarchs. They were believed to be a race of people who resulted from intermarriage between Hebrews and Assyrians after Assyria invaded and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel around 721
BC
. They were a group of people who were considered defiled both racially and spiritually. They were thought to be unworthy, unimportant, and unvalued by those who considered themselves “true Jews” or people with a right to a sacred heritage.

The woman at the well actually had two strikes against her: She was a Samari
tan, and, well, she was a woman! It was not accepted practice for a Jewish man to speak with a woman in public. Further, it is suspected that she was not well respected as a woman in her own community either.

The Samaritan woman went to draw water from the well at noon (John 4:6). This would have been the hottest part of the day, so it is implied that she went at this time to avoid going at the same time as most of the other women who would draw water from the well. She did not want to mix with people who might look down on her or ridicule her. This woman did not meet the standard for Jews. This woman didn’t even meet the standards of her own community. She was an outcast.

And Jesus talked to her.

He asked her to give Him some water. He invited her into an interaction, a conversation, a discussion about a gift that was available—even for her.

Then He offered her living water. Water that would satisfy. Water that came from the man who knew about her stained life and wanted to give her a gift from God anyway.

And the Samaritan woman wanted the gift. “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water” (verse 15). She wanted this living water so badly that she was willing to let Jesus call her out on her lifestyle (verses 16–19). She desired this living water so much that she sought to understand the difference between religion and a personal relationship with Christ (verses 20–26). This woman needed living water so desperately that with eager abandon, she left her water pot at the well and ran to tell other people in her city about this man who offered her life (verses 28–30). And those in her city believed. They believed the woman branded as an outcast. First because of her word (verse 39) and later because they experienced Jesus for themselves (verse 42).

God used the woman from Samaria to impact her entire community. She had a twofold impact—evangelistically and socially. She influenced her community socially because she became the impetus to bring together two diverse racial groups that had no connection whatsoever. It was so effective that Jesus went and spent the weekend with the Samaritians. She became the gateway through which Jesus came and stayed among the people in her community. Even though she was a woman with a checkered past, God used her to influence the lives of those around her, which goes to show that God can, and will, use anyone for His kingdom purposes when that person responds to His truth.

A kingdom woman is not a perfect woman. She is a forgiven woman. She is a woman who has been loved by the Master despite her past, her weaknesses, or her struggles. She is bold. She is the woman who, because she has nothing left to lose, puts it all on the line to point others to the Giver of Life.

The kingdom woman does not limit herself to lines drawn by our society across racial, socioeconomic, or cultural lines. Because Jesus has reached out to her across the great chasm created by sin, she is willing to reach out to others and offer them the word of her testimony.

She is a woman who recognizes her own depravity, either because she has been on the edge of a pit, fallen into a pit, or wallowed in the mud. She is amazed that Jesus has gone out of His way to know her by name. And because she is astonished that Jesus did not think her too low or unworthy of salvation, she is grateful.

A kingdom woman is the woman who is willing to abandon her own agenda, plans, and hang-ups to act on what God says. She is willing to leave the water pot at the watering hole and take action.

My sister, the time is now. The people in your community need you now. The folks on your street need you now. The person who sits next to you at work needs you now. It’s not about your perfection. God uses imperfect people. It’s not about having your ducks in a row. God wants to help you line them up. It’s not about being superspiritual or without sin. Jesus Christ has covered our transgressions with His blood and His sacrifice for you and me on the cross.

The time is now. There is no better time to respond to the call of God on your life than right now. You don’t need to wait until your family is perfect or your salary is just right. Spiritual sainthood is not required. It matters not that your children are still little or that you have some weight to lose. Denominational divides are not a valid excuse for denying others God’s love. Your upbringing is not a reason to avoid reaching out to touch someone else and share with her what you have received. The clock is ticking.

You are more than your past, the depth of your pain, or the number of your problems. You are who God says you are. You can do what God says you can do.
You can have what He says you can have.

Be bold.

The longer you hold on to your water pot in fear of how you will maintain your anonymity or self-respect, the less time you have to share your life and your story with people who need to know Jesus can save. People are dying and need you to rush into the city to tell them about what God has done in the past and what He is doing for you right now.

The Samaritan woman didn’t have it all together, but she met a man who did. Jesus offered her a way to get her life together by relying on Him.

God wants to use you. Yes,
you.
Your testimony, the same testimony that you avoid and try to hide, could be the very key to someone in your community seeing Christ—His goodness, mercy, and power.