Welcome to our exceedingly messy, beautiful life: "a big world is OUT THERE WAITING for us to live in every day. Outside, you will find, there is love all around you... It's a beautiful life & it's a beautiful world & it's a beautiful time... to be here!"

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Turn it Around

My Women's Bible study group just finished Beth Moore's newest Bible study (Esther).
It was a very good study.

The theme was:
Reversal of Destiny (or "Turn it Around").
Each week we talked about how it was "tough being a woman" in various ciurcumstances but then Beth Moore (via DVD) taught from Scripture how the Lord turns those various tough scenarios around.

To finish out our time together, we got together and ATE (of course!) and created "Turn it Around" books where we could write the tough scenarios and God's turnarounds for them.
  (Although the books turned out so darned cute - THANKS SUEZI -  that many of them are now going to be photo albums and prayer journals.)

Here are the scenarios and some photos:

* It’s tough being a woman in another woman’s shadow (Overshadowed)
TURNAROUND - Psalm 91:1 - He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
* It’s tough being a woman in a world where beauty is a treatment (Underrated)
TURNAROUND - Eccl 3:11 - He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set
 eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

* It’s tough being a woman in a mean world (Overwrought)
TURNAROUND - 1 Tim 1:18, 19 - …I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
* It’s tough being a woman thrown a giant sized weight (Under Qualified)
TURNAROUND - 1 peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Deut 23:5 - However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.

* It’s tough being a woman in the tight fist of fear (Under Attack)
TURNAROUND -  
Deut 33:29 - Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places
Neh 4:14 - …"Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
Isa 49: 15, 16 …I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands”
Ps 139:10 - even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

* It’s tough being a woman who can balance passion with patience (Over Anxious)
TURNAROUND - Is 30:18 - Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you
 compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

* It’s tough being a woman who feels responsible for the “how” (Over-Responsible)
TURNAROUND - 2 peter 2:9 - If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
Ps 103:14 - for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

*** It’s tough being a woman… BUT it is TRUST that turns it all around.

*** It’s tough being a woman… BUT TRUST REVERSES THE DETOURS OF ADVERSITY INTO THE HIGHWAYS OF DESTINY.
We missed you Jen, Lynn, Stephanie, Andria, & Sharon!!!

1 comment:

  1. I feel a little guilty now that I'm not making mine a turn around book - but I loved the idea and had a blast with all the girls!!! What a great way to spend the day!

    ReplyDelete