Tender Mercies

You may have noticed that my efforts to put out a weekly blog have fallen part in the last few months.  Today, I’m going to take a little extra time to share my heart with you, my faithful readers, so please be patient with this longer-than-normal blog.

In February of this year, we lost our precious and irreplaceable pastor’s wife, Denise, who also was the heart and leader of the women’s ministry at our church.  I, along with our women’s leadership team and so many others, have lost not only our leader and teacher, but an intercessor, prayer partner, mentor, friend and confidant.  She is pictured and mentioned in the “about” section of the Retreat-in-a-Bag website, and was a huge supporter of our efforts to share what we have learned over the years of women’s ministry.

I have been called upon to step up and lead the women’s ministry, something that was never on my radar.  While I hope that none of you ever go through a transition like this in your ministries, I want to share from my heart the tender ways that God has been ministering to us.  Our loss was devastating, and all of our women’s leaders are still grieving; it would have been easy just to let things slide for a little while.  Yet God has us moving “onward” despite the great hole left in our hearts.

May I share with you a few of God’s tender mercies to us during this time?

• Back in February, our women’s Bible study was finished our verse by verse study in the book of Habakkuk.  Habakkuk had seen the coming devastation of his people and had remembered His past deliverance.  He recognized that great loss was inevitable in his future.  Do you remember how Habakkuk finishes his message?  He declares that no matter what loss he faces, he will choose to rejoice in the Lord.  He will move forward in faith and in God’s strength, not stuck in the valley but with deer’s feet on the high hills.  These verses were a sweet and timely comfort and encouragement from the Lord to our ladies.
• Another mercy was His drawing together our leadership team in an even closer bond of love and support.  When we gathered together, I looked around at a group of women who each had faced their own set of either health crises or difficult circumstances in the past year, and yet we drew together as one in our commitment to continue Denise’s loving legacy to our women’s ministry.  That unity and support for one another was a tender mercy at a time when no doubt all of us felt that we had lost the wind beneath our sails.
• Back in February, we were also just beginning to plan for our annual fall women’s retreat.  We had the retreat center reserved, but were in the process of praying about the speaker and theme.  Out of the blue, we were given the sweet gift of a retreat theme, special speaker and worship leader being more or less “dropped” in our laps without effort on our part.  As I think about this upcoming retreat “Deeper Still”, I have no doubt that this is God’s gift to our women during this difficult year–that in our sorrow, He is calling us to a deeper walk with Him.
• As I have been praying for direction for the women’s ministry studies and events for the remainder of this year, my quiet time has taken me through the Psalms and Proverbs.  God spoke to my heart through an unexpected proverb–Proverbs 14:4, which says “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; but much increase comes by the strength of an ox.”  The NLT records it like this: “Without an ox, the stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.” In other words, if you don’t have an ox–sure, life will be easier in some ways; you won’t have to clean the stable and you’ll avoid the inconveniences and cost of caring for the needs of an ox.  But weigh that against the advantage of having an ox that will bring much increase in the long run.  What is God saying?  In His tender way, I believe He is saying–Yes, you can keep your calendar clear and not schedule anything extra for your ladies.  But consider the benefits and blessings-yes, even the harvest– you may be missing

Thanks for letting me share today.  My testimony is that our God is faithful.  He cares for you, and He cares for your ministry.  Are you or your ministry going through a dark valley?  He wants to minister to you in your dark hours.  Look for those sparkling gems of God’s tender mercies!