07.05.06 thequest UPdate

thequest family,

Below is a great challenge from my wife who is truly a woman of God. Read it and apply it!

Press on,
Mike


“…from Rag to Riches” by Mindi Jentes (July 2006)

For some time now, I have been wrestling with how God uses women in the Church today. What gifts do woman bring to the Body. How do woman further the Kingdom of Heaven? To look at the present and the future, one must look to the past. For God never changes!

Last week, I began a quest to discover how God used women in the Bible to influence the course of history. I began with the story of Bathsheba. Funny place to start, I know. I thought the same thing myself. Why not start with Mary, Martha, Sarah, or the woman who sold purple cloth? I mean these women are remarkable! Their zeal for their Lord is just confounding! Why start with a prostitute, whore, adulteress—a filthy rag? I mean seriously, what good came from this woman’s life? She has been known throughout history as the woman who seduced King David while he watched her from his palace wall, committed a sordid affair with him, and conceived a bastard child— all of which ultimately got her husband, Uriah, killed. How on earth could God have used this woman for good? Curiosity got the best of me. So began my journey…

Though, Bathsheba has always gotten a bad wrap, her story is really one that ought be praised! Yes, I said praised! She committed a horrible sin against her own body, King David’s, and her husbands. She brought great shame to her herself, her husband, her family, the tribe of Judah, the land of Canaan, and more importantly to God. This unthinkable sin cost her everything and haunted her all the days of her life. What praise is there in any of this? How on earth could God possible use this woman to influence the Kingdom of Heaven for good?

She had to beg God for His forgiveness (following David's lead) and He did just that. However, she still had to pay the consequences of her sin. She conceived a son to King David while she was still married to Uriah. To cover up the affair and pregnancy, David ordered Uriah’s murder in battle to cover up the indiscretion. God used Nathan, a priest of Judah, to prophecy to Bathsheba that her baby boy would surely die in payment for their sin. And so he did. The heart break and torture of it all! The only thing Bathsheba had left was ripped away from her by death!

Through it all, God takes her story and turns into something absolutely amazing! She and David did marry after Uriah’s death. And they truly loved each other and truly loved God. God blessed them with 4 sons. One of which was named Solomon—the future King who takes the throne after his father’s death. Bathsheba raised her boys to truly love the Lord with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strength. And as we read the life of King Solomon in Scriptures, she didn’t such a bad job. Solomon even named her queen!

Here’s the part that just makes me rejoice greatly! This woman who was disowned and dejected by every single person in the tribe of Judah, who was the wife of King David, the queen of Canaan, and the mother of King Solomon, was also the great great great great great, like 28 times over… grandmother to Jesus our Savior!!! Yep! Jesus CHOSE to come to this earth to be our Lord and Savior through a sordid family line!

So what does all this have to do with how God uses women in the Church today? Well, if God saw fit to send his one and only Son to earth as a tiny innocent baby through the family line of King David (a wife stealer, adulterer, and murderer) and Bathsheba (an adulteress and filthy rag), don’t you think that God still uses women of today regardless of their past sins, in the same way He did many years ago?

So often we women feel like we have to be perfect in order for God to use us. Not so. Don’t buy into Satan’s lie that says we are weak, insignificant, and unworthy to be used of God. This is exactly what Satan would have us to believe. For with that, we are paralyzed and God is unable to use us. Since God chose to use Bathsheba in such a mighty way to show his grace, mercy, forgiveness and love, surely He still chooses women of today to use in mighty ways!

What are you waiting for? If there is sin in your life, REPENT! Seek God’s forgiveness! And allow Him to bless you by turning your filthy rags into glorious riches! He can use you! He WANTS to use you!



Helpful References:

1. The story of Bathsheba can be found in 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles 3:5, Psalm 51 (David’s song of lament over his sin) and Matthew 1:6 of the Bible.

2. “Unspoken: Bathsheba” by Francine Rivers is an incredibly captivating historic fiction novella of the life of Bathsheba. Using Scripture, historical research, cultural context, and poetic license, Francine Rivers brings Bathsheba to life.

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