vealing the core group of women who
could support a neighborhood Bible
study. God used a crisis to bring us together. I witnessed the great mercy and
love of God as together we cried and
prayed and cried some more. My faith
grew on that special morning, and I
praised God for it.
I knew that the “next thing” was to send
out invitations for a Bible study. I was
certain I needed to do it the very next
day. But God has a way of directing and
leading by placing obstacles in our lives
and for a few months a crisis in our family did just that. As summer approached,
God once again used Scripture and sermons to challenge me to focus on my
assignment and not my problems. So
I set the date for an “Introduction to
Neighborhood Bible Study” event and
printed the invitations.
Obedience Brings Freedom
As I drove around the neighborhood
distributing the invitations, I was once
again the woman behind the wheel
talking to myself and wrestling with
God. There were a few houses where
I hesitated because I already knew the
prevailing attitude at the home. But
there was a not-so-quiet voice in my
heart that insisted an invitation go to every home. So I obeyed. And then I
waited for the responses.
The first two responses came from
the two women I least expected would
come. My dread of rejection lessened
and faith in the power of the Holy
Spirit began to prevail. Within hours of
the invitation going out, I received 16
responses. That was more than a third
of the neighborhood. Wow! At that
point I began to understand that any
plan I might have could not compare to
the plan God had already worked out.
God continues to teach me how to let go
and just do the next thing. In man ways,
it is very freeing. At the same time, it is
not easy. God is showing me that all He
expects of me is to 1) show love to my
neighbors, 2) show them I love God’s
Word, 3) and show them I love Jesus.
He’s got the rest. At times, doubt and
fear continue to creep into my heart. A
couple of hours before our last meeting I found myself saying out loud to
the Lord, “I don’t want to do this.” I
immediately went to the Lord in prayer
and asked Him to forgive my stubborn
heart and pour out His love and power
through me. When the women arrived,
I found myself overflowing with joy to
see them and aware of a special presence of the Lord around my table.
If God Assigns You, He’ll