The power of a woman who says 'Yes'

I've been listening to a series of talks from Revive our Hearts about the story of Deborah from the book of Judges. It's definitely made me go back to this section of the Bible that you don't often hear much teaching on, and I've been really struck at the way the story unfolds and Deborah's role in this part of Israel's history.

The Israelites were in a very turbulent time. Because of their disobedience, God did not let them conquer all of the promised land. He did not give them rest from their enemies. He allowed them to be plundered to bring them to a point of desperation where they would seek Him again. They were under His discipline. The various judges who ruled over the people were raised up by God as an act of grace to provide deliverance, and often these judges had a military role in fighting off Israel's enemies and winning victories and peace.

At the time that Deborah judges Israel (read about it in Judges 4), it seems that Israel were under a particularly difficult time with their enemy Sisera, who had 900 chariots of iron, a powerful military advantage. We don't really know much about Deborah or other leaders of Israel at that time, but it seems that she walked closely with God because she was able to bring the word of the Lord to Barak (see v6-7). She brought a message to him that if he took 10,000 men and fought Sisera at the river Kishon, God would give him the victory. Barak's response is quite unexpected: 'If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.' (v8) Barak wanted Deborah to go with him to the battle! Perhaps this is a sign of weak male leadership at the time... but equally, it could be a positive humility on Barak's part that he wanted God's presence and knew that Deborah was a prophetess. Anyway, Deborah says 'Yes'! 'I will surely go with thee' (v9). This is the power of a woman who says 'Yes'. The result was that Barak led the army and they won a great victory (read more about it in the rest of chapter 4 and 5).

I want to apply this into our homes, our marriages and our ministries today. As wives, do we say 'yes' when our husbands have some calling on their life, or some task to complete? It may be the simple, small things, but it may also be big things like where you live, where you work, whether you are in full time ministry or not. I want to suggest that there are few men who will act upon a desire God has placed in their heart, a calling God has given them, without their wives giving an emphatic 'Yes' and a go-ahead. If you meet passion with passivity, the fire dies out. And there's nothing worse than a husband feeling he's dragging his wife along into this ministry or that town when she isn't really 100% on board with the plan.

I'm not saying let's abandon discernment; we need it! Some of us may have husbands who come up with a new hare-brained scheme every week and we need to gently offer wisdom and guidance where appropriate. But generally speaking, do we encourage or do we dampen? Do we show willingness to go where it may be difficult, where it may be uncomfortable, so that God can use our families for His glory in some task He's called us to do? Deborah made a bold decision to go into the battle, because she ultimately had confidence in the word of God. I think we need to seek God with our husbands for His plan and will for us, and at the heart of it, to do this not with the attitude of 'well if it's really clear we'll go through with it', but with the standpoint of 'unless God makes it really clear it's NOT right, we'll do it!' Think how much our churches would be transformed if we had that boldness, passion and spirit!

What is gospel community?

'They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.' Acts 2:42-47

Do you ever read this and just get this feeling: I want my church to be like this!!! Isn't it frustrating when you look at the reality and just wish we could go back to these early days, after the Holy Spirit came with power at Pentecost, and somehow recreate the amazing community that the believers had?

Our church has recently moved to a more central location and encouraged everyone to be part of a 'gospel community' which meets in their local area. I've been trying to get my head around what gospel community actually is. It's got to be more than just a home group meeting mid-week for Bible study and prayer, though that is really vital. As I was reading 'Connecting Your Heart to Others', there's a short section at the beginning of the book that really captured to me what gospel community is meant to be about:
- Fellowship - opening up your heart with other Christians and genuinely connecting on a deeper level, listening carefully to each other
- Discipleship - growing to be like Jesus, exploring God's Word and applying it specifically to your lives
- Ministry - serving others in love using the spiritual gifts God has given you
- Evangelism - sharing your story and God's story, getting out there together so your group doesn't become a clique but reaches outwards to unbelievers
- Worship - surrendering your life to honour God and spending time in God's presence together.

I found that a really helpful description, breaking down all the different aspects of life as a gospel community. Spending time with some friends recently who are part of The Crowded House church network was really inspiring and challenging to me, because they just seem so much more consciously on mission than me in so many ways! In their gospel community, they may all agree to bring to the table their weekly schedule, to try to look for overlap so people can join together as much as possible. They may bring their financial budget sheet for accountability and transparency. The picture was given of a wheel, where the hub in the centre of the wheel is the gospel community. The spokes of the wheel are all the other aspects of life - and they come from the G.C. as the centre. In other words, you are asked to put your gospel community first. Make it your top priority. That's a challenge! I came back just wanting to be more on mission, more eager to show hospitality and with a much stronger desire to create gospel community where we are.

But also, I was reminded that it's only through the Holy Spirit that this gospel community can happen and succeed. It's not natural to want to live like this! When sinful humans get together, there is much danger of offence, annoyance, frustration and worse. We need to Spirit to guide us, to change us, to help us live together in the way God wants us to. We need a spiritual revival to give us the zeal the early church had to spend their lives together not as individuals with a passion for God. I want to not just be figuring out practical stuff to do, but getting more serious about praying for a changed heart in myself.