Balancing your Life as a Christian Woman

By: Patrice Martin

Take out a sheet of paper and a pencil or pen.  Write down every role you play in your life and the lives of others. Try not to focus on what you do, but who you are.  For example, you are a Christian, you are a woman, and you may even be someone’s sister. One of the most common complaints of us women is that there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything we have planned. After a tiresome day of navigating through the world to attend to the needs and demands of society, we now have to come home and attend to the needs of our families. Most often, we put our needs and desires last, leaving little to no energy left for our spiritual lives.

In the gospel of John 10:10, Jesus said that He came that we may have life and life more abundantly.  This means plentifully and to its fullest extent.  With all that we give ourselves to, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and over-extended at the end of the day; and we often neglect to get the physical, mental, or spiritual replenishment we need. The cares of life can be numerous for us all; but they are possible to face when you first attend to yourself and your spirituality. 

A daily devotional life consisting of prayer, worship and scriptural meditation centers you, calms you, and opens you up to receive the peace of God and release the stress of the practical life. Refer back to those roles you listed on your paper and imagine how your spiritual connection with Jesus could impact them.  Furthermore, imagine the positive impact it could have in the lives and situations of those people you engage with most. Having and maintaining a balanced life doesn’t come easy, but it begins little by little.   Beginning today start, nurturing your connection with Christ through those daily spiritual practices and you’ll be well on your way to a well-balanced and abundant life as a Godly woman.

EMOTIONS

By: Patrice Martin

             Fear. Hurt. Anger. Brokenness.  These are but a few of the many emotions that you have experienced repeatedly throughout your life.  When you lived as a woman who was not filled with the Spirit of God, you experienced these emotions.  After you became filled with God’s spirit through the salvation of Christ, you continued to experience these emotions.

            Emotions are responses things that take place outside of you.  They grab your attention through your senses (taste, touch, hearing, sight, and smell), embed themselves in your consciousness and cause you to respond with some form of action.  Most of the time these actions lead to confusion, isolation, instability and many other things that have the potential to subtly tear away at the quality of your life.  It’s so subtle that years can go by without you even realizing how your relationships have become strained or how your level of confidence has decreased.

           This world you live in will not stop trying to capture your attention.  It will keep trying to rekindle a past relationship with your mind and heart. As a woman of God you have been rescued from your old way of thinking and living and have been made free to function in a whole new way.  This is because you are filled with the truth and knowledge of God, and have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16).  Now you are empowered to see those external distractions and not be led by them.  You belong to God now (Romans 8:14).  Your mind and heart are in His hands.  You are Spirit-filled with truth.  He who lives in you will only tell and show you things that are true (John 16:13). 

          These things have come to be because you made the choice to follow Jesus.  The emotional struggles we experience are mostly because we fail to make that same choice—with each and every new day.  Being led by God is done through obedience to His word and trusting Him beyond what is pulling at us from without.  We are human beings fearfully and wonderfully made; but most importantly, we are spirit-filled beings now able to be led by the Holy Spirit. 

          The next time you experience an emotional response to something, ask yourself, “What could my response to this lead me to?”  Will you be led by your emotions, which yield uncertain results every time, or will you be led by the God who will consistently lead you in a life of peace, spiritual success, and growth?

Living as a Woman of Principle

By: Pamela Fletcher

As Godly women, we live in a secular world that is impacted by society, pop culture, government, politics, etc. Many of these influences are not consistent with what we believe and who we are in God. Although we currently reside in this culture, we can still live as women of principle and prevail over the challenges we face in our secular society.

A principle is simply an important value that is paramount in guiding your thinking to a place of prevailing. It is something you stand on and believe in and causes you to transcend failure and be victorious in areas of your life. You may be saying to yourself, “Well, in my culture, or the way I was brought up, we didn’t practice principles that encouraged solution-based thinking. It was more about dysfunction, negativity, and hopelessness than being guided by a positive principle or thought.” Well, let me tell you this—no matter what the secular culture dictates, we can have solution-based thinking guided by healthy principles.  

We don’t have to be victims of our circumstances or have anger and bitterness alive in us. We don’t have to have unhealthy thinking, low self-esteem, and fear inside of us. We can invest in seeking God for wisdom and guidance. Jesus Christ came to save us (St. John 3:16) as well as to influence our lives, causing us to be civilized in our thinking and conduct, through the guiding principles of His Word.

We can break through the barriers of unproductive societal thinking. The bible says in Proverbs 23:7, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. Our conduct and way of living can be pleasing in the sight of God. We can have goals, dreams, and aspirations that reflect the very image of God, through our lifestyles and principles.

One of the most important principles I have valued is found in Proverbs 9:10, which declares, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Understanding who God is in our lives and knowing what he wants for our lives is very important. Our principles come from an influence. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the most essential person upon whom to base and form our principles, (Proverbs 3:5-7).

We don’t have to base our thought patterns on a secular culture. We can stand on what we believe according to our convictions and live a holy lifestyle.  We can be well-poised women—not by know-how but by grace, purity and sanctification. As women of principle, we can reflect the very image of Jesus Christ and be an example on our jobs, to our children, and to those who share our environment. The character of Jesus Christ can exude from us when we live under the principles by which we are highly esteemed in the sight of God.

The Evidence of Faith

By: Pamela Fletcher

Faith has an inimitable way of showing a very strong presence in our lives. Most times we focus on the fact that we lack faith. We feel as though faith is far from us because we haven’t received the specific things we’ve asked God for. We often begin to feel downtrodden and in despair when we don’t see tangible results or a snapshot of the things we’ve hoped for. Have you ever stopped and thought about what God is doing on the inside of us while we are going through our faith process? Have you ever thought about the fact that God is building, strengthening, and manifesting his character and power inwardly (Acts 1:7-8). There may even be moments where we are disappointed or angry with God because he didn’t grant us a particular wish or desire of our hearts. 

God wants us to take a deeper look inside our hearts. He wants us to understand that having faith is not completely about receiving all of the things we’ve asked him for or believe we should have. During our time of petitioning (beseeching) God through prayer and appeals, we should also consider the manner in which we are asking and seeking God. Are we asking according to the will of God (which is his word); or are we asking with “high hopes,” expecting God’s answer to only be “yes”? If this is the case, we may want to reassess our position with the Lord. Our heavenly Father wants to work in our hearts and minds as we are trusting in him. He wants us to have an understanding of his heart and his ways. Let’s try to remember that believing God by faith is not solely about “yes or no.” Faith is trusting God without limitations.

During our faith journey, we don’t realize transformation is taking place from the inside out. We are continuously gaining and gathering from God when we believe in his Word.  The Word of God declares in Hebrews 11:1, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Let’s focus on the portion of the text that says, “The evidence of things not seen.” Normally in our faith walk we look for evidence. We believe God isn’t working on our behalf because we don’t see signs, proof, or tangible change. For example, we may have been praying for a loved one to be healed and although we have prayed and believed God for their healing, there is no physical evidence of their recovery. 

Although we are quick to accept that we have not received from the God, have we ever stopped long enough to ask ourselves, “what have I been receiving from the God while waiting on him?” I’ve discovered during my time with the Lord and during my faith journey that God had been giving me a wonderful gift all along—a gift that is immeasurable and everlasting! When I discovered this, it stopped me in my tracks. Before this discovery, I had become very frustrated with God because I felt that he was ignoring and not listening to me. I was very angry with God. I had been praying and asking him for my heart’s desire and it simply was not happening fast enough or, in my time. Soon after, I realized there was no use in being mad at God because I knew he loved me and would never do anything to hurt me. I decided I needed to take a closer look within to see where my heart was concerning my plea before the Lord. In other words, I had to examine myself. 

During my examination period (which came through studying God’s Word) I realized that all along, even during my anger and frustration with God, he was presenting me with a gift that I call, unforeseen evidence. I call it “unforeseen evidence” because I had to stumble across it or come to understand the benefit of faith by using God’s word. For example, think about a crime scene. Think about all of the evidence that has to be collected in order to prove someone’s guilt or innocence. At some crime scenes, physical evidence is very present. Then you have evidence that has to be discovered, researched, or brought to the surface because it cannot be seen with the naked eye. You have to use special technology and forensic science to determine DNA or someone’s blood type. There is evidence that goes “unforeseen” because it was undiscovered, not researched or unproven.   

Evidence is something that you discover or, in my case, something that God revealed through his word. I had to learn what God wanted me to see about the things I had been praying about. I had to look at my heart and ask myself if I was being sober in my thinking. God wants us to be aware of the fact that he is always working something out in us. I couldn’t see this initially because I was more focused on wanting God to give me what I desired. 

God wanted me to pay attention to finding the unforeseen (unpredicted) evidence in his Word. The proof that he loves me and knows the things I have need of before I ask him. He wanted me to see the details involving my faith journey. He wanted me to see that he was maturing me in certain areas of my life. He even required something of me during this process. We often want God to do all of the work while we sit back and reap the benefits. But God is God! He can do what he wants to, when he wants to. However, he required me to do something whether his answer was yes or no. I had to humble myself and be corrected and chastised by the Lord. I had to be patient and obedient. I had to repent, pray for others, use wisdom, and accept God’s will. I had to do my part.

Trusting God is not always easy. We all stumble at times; however, one of the most significant and important things to remember in trusting God is found in Proverbs 3:5-7. My prayer is that we all find our refuge in the Lord and that we allow him to order our steps as he leads and guides us in all truth.