Date: 03-30-2021

Title: God Calls Women

(S) cripture:
    Judges 4:4-9 (NLT2) Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time. 5 She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for judgment. 6 One day she sent for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. She said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. 7 And I will call out Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him.” 8 Barak told her, “I will go, but only if you go with me.” 9 “Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the LORD’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.

(O) bservation:
    God called Deborah to be a judge (political leader) in Israel. She sends Barak out to fight Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army. Barak refuses to go unless Deborah goes with him. She agrees but makes it known that he will not get credit for the victory because God will give it to them by the hands of a woman. That is just what happened when Jael drives a tent peg through Sisera’s head while he is hiding and asleep in her tent. It is interesting to me that so many still think that women are to have no leadership roles in the church. Often the claim is that there was not a man available in this story, so God had to use a woman. How bankrupt is that kind of justification. The Lord has always called women to service and leadership in his kingdom.

(A) pplication:
    I am confident that God’s call is active in all of his followers. I want to be sure to help every person to understand and live out that call in their lives. It matters not whether they are male or female, God’s call is to be followed. I am to honor and recognize that call in every life not just in men. My wife has lived out God’s call in her life as a leader in the local church, the West Virginia Baptist Convention and in our denomination. To limit God’s call to males only is to ignore what God is doing in the lives of most of our congregations. I am thankful for the call of God to lead His people and will celebrate it in both women and men.

(P) rayer:
    Lord, forgive us for limiting your call in your people. Help me to recognize, cultivate and celebrate Your Call in every life. Thank you for the women you called to impact my life. Amen