Divine Intervention

(First of all, this entry doesn't seem like it has anything to do with our Esther study, but I promise it does. If you can make it through this one, go on to the next and you'll see what I mean. I had too much stuff to fit into one post, so I broke it up into two.)

Once again, I would like to apologize for the lack of updates. Since the last update we’ve had one lesson and part of a lesson. Last week we had (in my opinion) the best meeting that we’ve had yet. We didn’t even make it through the entire session. Everyone discussed things, opened up and encouraged one another like we should. Satan had really been trying to defeat me over this Bible study. On Tuesday of last week, I emailed the ladies and let them know what was going on. I asked for prayers and several were very encouraging and shared how the lessons had helped them. To be honest, I was ready to give up. Once Wednesday night’s service was over, I began to feel better about everything, but still didn’t feel completely right.

This Friday (3/22) and Saturday (3/23) our pastor, our head deacon and my husband and I attended the Annual Association Meeting of the Piedmont chapter of Freewill Baptists. Friday morning I could have sworn the message was spoken straight to me. I had never heard the voice of God so clear. It was what I needed to verify my activity involved in Wednesday night services. It gave me the renewed spirit I had needed and the motivation to continue on. Friday night, the first message was technically spoken to the young preachers in the association by the ordaining counsel. I’m in no way a preacher, but I teach and therefore am responsible for getting the Word of God across clearly and effectively to everyone present. I took it and applied it to the work I could/should be doing with the Bible study. The message was supposed to be informative, helpful, encouraging, and instructional. Brother Tucker pointed out that we shouldn’t get discouraged over how many are in attendance during a service. Whether you have 100 or 10, you should be teaching the same thing. Phillip preached to one Ethiopian eunuch and led him to Christ. There weren't thousands in attendance. We forget that all of the events that took place with Christ and the disciples aren't recorded. There were probably thousands of times where they were only speaking to a handful of people. Everything they did wasn't in front multitudes or with a physical miracle like the raising of Lazarus. Most of the time they won others by just simply sharing the gospel in conversation. We shouldn’t lessen the message just because the numbers lessen. That’s a hard thing to learn, and I don’t think you ever learn it completely. Any event you have, whether it be a dinner party or a church service, you want everyone invited to attend. Don’t be discouraged by the ones that are there one week and out the next. Don’t be discouraged by those who say they study and read, but don’t/can’t/won’t answer or speak up. Don’t be discouraged by those who speak negatively of you or the words you are saying. Most times, they are speaking negatively due to a nerve your words hit within them – and if you are doing things right, your words are God’s words, so if they are getting upset, it’s just at the messenger. God will handle the relationship between them and Him.

In the KJV version of 2 Timothy 4:2 it says: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." According to the commentary by Albert Barnes, be instant means to stand by. Always be ready; in season means in good time. Be sensitive to the timing of things; out of season refers to a minister seeking out times to share the gospel with others when it might not be necessarily convenient to him. In other words, he shouldn't be confined to doing God's work only in the church or at church events. Reprove means to convince; rebuke refers to letting others know when they are doing wrong. If they are sinning, let them know. Exhort others by encouraging them. Lastly, do it with longsuffering. This is the hardest one for us as humans. Do all of these things with patience. This is our mission as disciples of Christ whether you preach, teach, pray, or just live your life for Christ. Your actions speak louder than words. You might not be speaking directly to others, but they are watching. Don't say one thing and do another. As you go through the days, keep this verse in mind. It's a wonderful goal to have each day.

There is so much more I learned from this meeting, but I won't share it all here. I'll try to spread it out ;)