Silent no more

I am currently in the process of reading a book titled “Lioness Arising” by Lisa Bevere and it has really given me some stuff to ‘chew’ on.  This morning she was talking about women’s role in the church and how in America the Christian body has diminished the value of women leaders.  She went on to tell a story about a Face book post she made that started a very controversial discussion about whether women can be leaders or not.  Of course this brought a broad out people on both sides who spoke very vehemently on the subject.  Then she quoted a comment from a man which struck home to me.  “Why are you women arguing against yourselves?  We need your contribution, but you are stopping each other!”

It then struck me that the majority of the previous comments she listed had been women angrily forcing their sisters into silent submission.  But we are not called to be silent.  God did not create us as merely baby makers.  We are charged with raising children, the most noble and difficult job on the planet. Yet how can we do this if we do not use our voice to stand strong for what we believe and hold our husbands to account for their behavior or lack of leadership.  A perfect example of this silent submission is Abraham’s wife Sarah.  How many times did she allow Abraham to pass her off as his sister due to his fear.  I wonder what glory would have been shown to God is she only would have put her foot down and said I” will not let you disrespect me that way, and God is bigger than this problem!” 

I wonder…

Eowyn

I had the pleasure of three days off this weekend and on a whim decided to have a Lord of the Rings marathon.  On Saturday a friend of mine was telling me how she and her husband often discuss which character they are more like.  While I have often seen myself in different aspects of the different characters, I have never thought I was like one, or ever could be.  As I was watching the first film I decided to ask her who she thought I was and she said Eowyn. 

Eowyn, really?  Isn’t she the one who falls for Aragorn and gets her heart broken?  Oh ok, that sounds like me…So with an open mind I watched the remaining three films and slowly the inner strength and courage of Eowyn began to emerge.  She is a somewhat silent character, who speaks more by her actions than by her words.  She has an inner strength and often finds herself in places where she must lead those around her.  At one point she rides into battle as a man to fight along side those she loves, because she can’t do otherwise.  She was created to fight injustice, to stand strong against evil and defeat the evil that no ‘man’ could. 

As I neared the end of the movie, my respect for this character had grown.  While, I see aspects of her that are similar to me, I do not feel I measure up to her in anyway.  She is however who I aspire to be, a woman of strong character.  A woman whose identity is defined more by my actions than merely by words.  A woman who is courageous in battle and willing to forego my own life for those I love.

Daily I battle against the fear that lurks in my heart.  The road that God has me on seems scary most directions I look at it.  But in reality what is there to fear when death means eternity with Christ.  So what really scares me about the path I am on?  At this point I am not sure.  It could be the fear of the unknown, or even a fear that I am not as strong as others seem to think.  But mostly I fear that my actions will not speak the truth of Christ or that I will not have the courage to speed headlong into battle when I am called to go.  Most importantly I fear the persecution I may face.  That I will not be able to stand up for my Lord when called to do so.

These are my fears…

The chains of fear

Sunday morning I snapped under the weight of my fear.  I broke down at the foot of the cross and admitted to God what He already ken.  My fear, the wound harbored in my soul, is the fear of being unprotected. 

When I was young I didn’t know what protection was, I didn’t understand what I was walking away from when I walked away from God.  All this time I have looked towards men around me hoping they would protect me.  Time and time again that arrow would pierce my heart at the humanness of men.  Tonight I stood before God with the arrow of fear at my throat.  I looked into His eyes and saw everything I ever longed for.  He beckoned me to step out of the chains in into His protection.  I leapt, refusing to be bound by these chains any more, by the mind games that lie to me about what I need. 

I expected to feel the arrow pierce my soul, but instead it snapped!  I landed in His arms and felt the full embrace of my true Strong Tower.

Where does it stop?

Several weeks ago I read an article where a former victim of sex trafficking personally asked the NFL and the Super Bowl Host committee to join forces with Traffick911 and their “I’m Not Buying It” campaign.  They never responded.  I haven’t been able to let it go.  I have continually asked God what I should do about it.  Should I not watch the Super bowl in protest?  Or just voice my concerns and bring to light the irony of this.

Every year millions of people watch the super bowl.  Thousands of people are lucky enough to watch it in person.  Thousands have invaded the Dallas Ft. Worth area this week just for the experience of the Super Bowl.  And with that comes the thousand of pimps dragging their sex slaves to make them millions.

I wish I could go back in time and find the moment where our country stopped being the land of the Free and became the land of “well as long as they aren’t hurting me I guess it is ok”.

I am disgusted by the lack of responsibility that the NFL and the Host Committee have voice in their decision to remain silent.  Often all it takes is one voice to start an uproar and one voice to silence it.  As someone somewhere said, “For evil to prosper all it needs is for good people to do nothing”. 

As you watch the Super Bowl today, please take the time, to pray for those who have lost their freedoms.  The ones who can’t say no, or stop the atrocities that happen to them every day.  And pray that we as Christians would begin to hold the world accountable for their actions.