Lessons from the New Life Women’s Retreat

This past weekend, I attended a women’s retreat just outside of San Diego for a day and a half.¬? The speaker was Noel Piper who has written a short book called “Faithful women and their Extraordinary God”.¬? I highly recommend this book. It’s a collection of biographies on women who have faithful served God in their lives.¬? Some of them are missionaries.¬? Noel spent the time talking about three women and how we can apply their stories to our lives.¬? The following is what I wrote in my journal as a reflection on these women’s lives.

Listening to stories of great women of faith is extremely humbling!¬? I’ve struggled with feeling inadequate for the title “missionary” and wondered if I’m spiritually strong enough for the task ahead.¬? Philippians 3:3 says “put no confidence in the flesh”.¬? I confess that feeling inadequate is putting confidence int he flesh.¬? Those words imply that I can do something to make myself adequate.¬? So if I do not put confidence in the flesh, what do I put my confidence in?¬? Obviously God, but more specifically his faithfulness & sovereignty.¬? Despite all my imperfections, God has remained faithful to me in all his promises.¬? He has never left me nor forsaken me.¬? There is absolutely nothing I can do (in my own strength) that is of any benefit to this world.¬? Nothing!¬? Now that’s humbling!¬? It is only what God does in all his sovereignty that benefits humanity and that is to save us from sin in order to worship Him.¬? In His sovereignty, God choose to use broken pots (like me and you) who answer “Thy will be done”.

I definitely was not looking for this task, but who am I to argue with the Creator of the universe? I truly desire to glorify God daily (which is the chief end of man).¬? I can do no other then to answer his call.¬? I consider myself far from faithful in my daily life serving God.¬? But God doesn’t care – he pulls me closer to himself each day even when I do everything in my power to run the opposite direction just like Jonah.¬? But that’s when I’m thankful that I can put no confidence int he flesh because left up to me I would live in a state of complete misery from failure most of the time and fear of failure the other part of the time.¬? How freeing it is to say “yes, Lord, your will be done!”¬? I believe that the day I became the daughter of God and called him father is the day I donned the title “missionary”.¬? Daily the question brought before God needs to be “How can I glorify you today?” and the follow up statement needs to be “Give me the strength to be faithful”.¬? If that is our daily plea, it removes the feelings of inadequacy in body and spirit.¬? We cease putting confidence in the flesh and begin to put it in our faithful and sovereign God.

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