By Rebekah Montgomery
"Everything's going wrong!" wailed the women's conference leader. "You won't believe all the bad things that are happening to the members of the committee!"
Actually, I would. Two forces are at work:
- Satan does not want women to be encouraged, healed, saved, and/or blessed. Therefore, he will cause chaos.
- God does not want just anyone to be in His service. He wants a few good women who are so passionate about telling others about Him that they willingly stand toe-to-toe against Satan to do so.
Service to the Lord is not something to be entered haphazardly. Just as a woman cannot wake up one day and say, "I'd like to be a brain surgeon," so too she cannot suddenly decide to be a writer, speaker, conference leader, Bible study teacher, or ministry director without preparation.
Preparation Requires Study
Even if you have a compelling personal story to tell, study the Scriptures constantly and thoroughly. Rewrite the texts into your own words. Apply them to your life. Study the Scriptures on your knees. Pray through every line asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate it to your soul. Memorize them. Get commentaries and read them. There is an appalling lack of Biblical literary - even among God's people. Yet the Bible is the only authoritative Word of God. Its truth must be the central theme of everything you teach, plan, or do.
Preparation Requires Training
Network with other Godly women who are doing what you believe God has called you to do. If it is writing, find some other writers and apprentice yourself to them as their disciple. Let them mentor, correct, and teach you. This is the Titus 2 pattern for training leadership.
Find good books, chat groups, websites, classes, and conferences that will challenge your mind and broaden your horizons.
Preparation Requires Sacrifice
I'm taking a risk here. I could deceive you and only emphasize the joy of seeing women delivered and/or being born again because sacrifice is downright unpopular. But when God calls someone, He tells her to count the cost.
For example, when Saul/Paul was called, God plainly said, "I will show him how much he must suffer for My name."(Acts 9:16) The truth is this: Nearly every woman I have ever known who answered God's call has been tried by fire. Satan tries to discourage her but God uses the fire to purify her.
God is looking for a few good women to be in His service. Are you one?
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