Shoba's Corner: A Strong Woman of God
A lovely family home with large rooms, a well-laid-out kitchen, and room for the family to gather, laugh and dine. That was the requirement of this sweet family when they came to me for a design. As an architect, I loved this one-on-one chat with my clients, especially the lady of the house. But where the house was built and how strong it was to weather the storms were important. Ranjit who designs structures to weather earthquakes tells me that a house built on the rock would even withstand earthquakes as it could the storms!
Do we face storms? Of course, we do- sometimes it's a small one for a day or two (a sick child, a poor exam result, a disagreement with a spouse or friend), some storms rock us hard (the death of a loved one, a fearful diagnosis, the loss of a job) and change the course of our lives forever.
Matthew 7:24-27, my reading this morning took me back to my days designing homes as an architect. Throughout the morning I have been meditating on these verses which I will share with you. It is not a long writing up but I hope it will leave you as excited and strengthened as it left me!
So, pull out your Bible, a journal, and a pen, get your favorite drink and let's dig in!
The Two Builders. Math 7:24-27 The Good News Bible
Anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who builds his house on rock.’ says Jesus ‘The rain poured down, the rivers overflowed and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall because it was built on rock. But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain poured down, the rivers overflowed, the wind blew hard against that house and it fell. And what a terrible fall it was!’
What do these verses call us to do? To be a strong woman of God we are called to
· Hear God’s word
Obey God’s word.
We can hear God’s Word as we read it for ourselves, study the Bible, and listen to it as it is taught to us.
Psalm 1:2 NIV calls us to
Delight in the law of the Lord, meditate on it day and night
Then we will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither…..
Psalm 119:11a NIV
I have hidden your word in my heart.
From these verses we learn that we have to
· Delight in God’s word
Meditate on God’s Word
Hide it in our heart.
As we hear, delight in, meditate on, hide in our heart and obey God’s Word we become strong women of God. We face the storms of life like the strong house built on the rock.
I like to take one verse each day as my verse of the day. Sometimes I draw a small sketch to remind me of the verse throughout the day. Sometimes it is just a word to direct me to the verse, other times I choose a photograph. For Psalm 1, I would choose the picture of a fruit tree with green leaves next to a stream.
For the Matthew passage, I drew a house on a rock, beautiful and strong!
For Psalm 119:11 I think of a heart having the word of God as a special treasure!
It helps me focus on God as I make my breakfast, drive to work, teach at school, talk to a friend, laugh with my family, cook dinner, or……… when I face a storm.
In the words of Patience Strong
Hold on to the ultimate goodness of God,
Fear weakens and pulls down
Faith strengthens and builds up!
Let us build ourselves up by studying and obeying the Word of God.
A Strong Woman knows that she has the potential to shine in the world, but true strength lies in her ability to lay down her life so that God can shine through her.
-Darlene Schacht
Some questions to ponder -
What one decision can I make to study God’s word intentionally from today?
When in my life have I faced a storm? Did my house fall down or did it collapse?
What have I learnt from God’s word in the past week, have I taken steps to obey it fully?