How many times have you heard a song and know all the words and can sing along with it but haven’t really paid attention to what the words are really saying?
This morning getting ready I put on Pandora for some tunes while I put on some makeup to look somewhat decent for the day and I’m singing along with Caedmon’s Call. Thankfully, with no one else in the room, I belt out a few lines but unexpectedly, I set my brush down and asked myself, “What did I just sing?”“We’re vessels for breaking under God’s grace.”
Those are really the words I just sang? Well, I had to pay attention to the rest of the song because I guess I had never really paid attention to them before.
“So Father sow Your seed Give us life in community Wake us from our sleep This is Your time, this is Your place And we are vessels for breaking
under Your grace, we are led by Your Spirit You have redeemed us by the blood of Your Son Send down Your Word, we are eager to hear it Ready our hearts to carry Your love.”
Even though I haven’t heard or thought of that song in years, it’s been my prayer for a few months now, just not in such a poetic and beautiful way. Actually that same prayer I say has been pretty sloppy and jumbled up and has even brought me to tears crying out to God but it’s the same longing I tell Him.
I have an unanticipated yet undeniable impulse to call out this prayer for all women, not just me, myself and I. Like I have for so long.
I seem to have a new way of seeing. My eyes feel like they’ve been opened and I’ve woken up to the cries of women because this IS our time and place.
This is the time God has given you. You’re in the place where He’s put you.“From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of their places where they would live.” (Acts 17:26)
Your time. Your place.
Girls, we’ve been set in OUR time and place with God’s purpose! We can accomplish those purposes better together than apart.
I know how easy it is to become smothered with to-do lists, fear, and timidity. I know it’s true because that’s the cover-up I put on my face when I look at myself in the mirror.
That’s not a legit excuse though. That’s not how God created me, or you, or us, to be.
We need each other. To set down our agendas down for a little bit and listen to someone. To tell a friend how you’re really doing and what you’re wrestling with God.
We need God’s Word and the eagerness to hear it. We can do that together, too.
As the song asks God, “Give us life in community”. The prayer isn’t give me life in community. You can’t be a community solo. Give us life. Join together as a community in our time and in our place.There’s going to be a beautiful opportunity for us women in our community to gather and “ready our hearts to carry God’s love” through worship, speakers, conversations, and prayers.
We’re all invited to IF:Gathering February 6-7, 2015 to come dream and see what God wants to do through us. Wherever you are in this world, you can join and watch this live stream event. But if you live in or near Alamance County, NC, women are invited to join and be part of the IF:Gathering together with friends, neighbors and churches.
To find out more, come on over to the Facebook group or Twitter. To register, come on over here. If you have questions, you can also email to ifalamancenc@gmail.com
