This post is for any of the mom friends who had to miss our small group meeting on 7 April....but...if you are a regular blog reader here, you are welcome to comment as well! We are just beginning the Bible Study book Living Above Worry and Stress from the Women of Faith series. All of us were able to attend the meeting for Chapter 1 except for two......there were 6 of us sitting around my family room and it was a sweet evening. God was present....it was amazing!
I told the ladies that I would post a summary of what they missed so they can see the notes, specific Scriptures we discussed, etc. Nothing personal will be shared here unless I have the permission of the mom to share what God has done......
Here is a summary of our discussion:
- key verse for the chapter "Scattered Lives" is from Psalm 102:1-3. We discussed on David is feeling totally overwhelmed but he has Hope because he knows God will hear his cry and answer him...we discussed how our days are so busy they seem to disappear like smoke.
- I read from Crazy Love by Francis Chan where he talks about worry and stress being a sin! YES...it is a SIN to worry and stress based on Scripture found in Philippians 4. "Do not be anxious about anything" is a command from the Lord. Rather, we are to bring our worries, fears, stress to Him. I shared how I do a visual imagery thing of actually laying my worries/fears/stress down at Jesus' feet on the Cross and allowing Him to carry that burden for me. Several women shared how they turn to Him in times of stress and what they've done in the past to say "no" to certain tasks like ministries, school volunteer events, etc.
- We discussed how we are to be busy with managing our homes, children, jobs (if applicable) and ministries we are involved in but that some busyness is not good busyness.....we discussed the various things that hinder our priorities (God, husband, children, home). 2 of us shared about times when we've had to set aside ministries we had been involved in because we were losing the passion and vision for those ministries.....I shared about my time working for 5 years at the crisis pregnancy center and how I heard, and how I knew from the Lord, based on prayer and confirmation from my husband and other leaders, that it was time to step down and allow someone else to take over. We discussed how often it is our "need to control" that keeps us stressed or too busy. We discussed knowing when to delegate tasks to others and in just saying NO to something that might not be the season for us to be engaged in.
- We took turns reading from the following Scriptures: Proverbs 31:10-31, Ephesians 2:10 ( I shared how I believe that we glorify God when we do His work...and that our purpose here on earth is to worship Him and follow His plan and purposes for our lives....and how to think of our daily tasks (even scrubbing toilets and doing laundry!) as working for Him....that He wants us to work and not be idle but that we need to find the balance of healthy busyness and idleness (based on various Scriptures from Proverbs regarding laziness and slothfulness!).
- We discussed various things that stress us because we worry about them....several of us shared specific worries and how we are or are not dealing with them....
- I handed each woman her "trinket to treasure" (a green leaf with a Scripture from Psalm 1:2-5 on one side and a picture of trees near a river on the other) and discussed why I chose that Psalm. I also discussed how the Lord brought me to Jeremiah 17:7-9 a few days after creating the leaves...and how that ties in. You can read about that here.
One friend shared a personal anecdote and it reminded me of a song the Lord gave me back in 1996.....I decided to have the women go into the living room where the piano is and I shared that song...although it was specifically for my friend M.....i think we all gleaned something from that short time of worship....it was amazing to see God move...and we moved right into prayer...each woman took a turn to pray about specific things or general things for each other and for the group as a whole. We also lifted up the 2 women who couldn't be at the meeting. The Holy Spirit was flowing thru and it was refreshing!!
Basic points to take home:
- God wants us to give Him our worries, cares, fears and stress. By holding on to them, we are sinning.
- Turn to Him daily, in some form of quiet time, devotional time, meditation, journaling/prayer to keep our feet firmly planted by the Living Water....(Jesus)...and in doing so, our stresses, fears, worries, anxiety will not have a stronghold over us. When we find ourselves worrying, etc, repent, bring those things to the Cross, lay them down, and move on.....thanking Him for being able to "turn over a new leaf".
- Remind your selves that just like God brings new life in Spring....with new, fresh green leaves on the trees...so too does He bring us New Life when we allow our scattered, busy lives to be under His Wing and our anxiety to be turned over to Him.
Be blessed today....and see you on 14 April for Chapter 2!!
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