I was teaching a Bible study for women in our new church. Nine women were present. Four of us had been married just once. Three of the women had been married twice. One had been married three times, and one had been married four times. So there were nine women and seventeen marriages.
We had been church planting for several decades…
We had been church planting for several decades, and I now find that the issues faced by our women are more difficult than ever.
This week, God willing, I’ll teach a different group of women. In that group, two of the women were married four times. Most of them have never been to Bible study before. What a privilege! What a burden!
Perhaps you, too, are ministering to broken women. The “women’s movement” has taken an unbelievable toll on us. We have been fed tremendous lies promising freedom that lead only into horrible bondage. Many feel depressed – even overwhelmed by their past. How can I help them? How can I do more than tell them that the love of Jesus will bind their broken hearts? Platitudes are not enough. As one woman put it last week, “My life is a polluted stream that Jesus is making clean.”
There is only one way
In my opinion, there is only one way – God must speak individually to their hearts –through His Word.
For a woman who has never opened a Bible before, this can be an overwhelming undertaking. It has been my practice to assign our women a portion of scripture to study…, and then we talk about it.
It almost doesn’t matter what you study – get them into the Word. A few key questions are all that’s needed, and God will do the rest.
I’ve kept them away from the “how-to” Christian books. They have their place; I wrote one. Popular books can be very helpful but are no substitute for God’s word hidden in the heart. He speaks to the heart through His word. It pierces and quickens; it’s a balm to a troubled soul.
In addition to Scripture study I make available biographies of the great men and women of church history. These books shaped my thinking during my formative development in Christ. They made me understand that God could use me if I were willing.
Our women are being challenged by the sacrificial dedication of giants like missionary C.T. Studd, prayer warrior – George Mueller, and visionary DL Moody. Christian Olympian Eric Liddell, Borden of Yale, Navigator – Dawson Trotman, and others like Andrew Murray, George Verwer, Corrie ten Boom, and Amy Carmichael.
Other great books include Hannah Whitall Smith’s The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life and Jerry Bridges’s The Pursuit of Holiness.
The bottom line: You must feed your sheep, then watch what God will do.
