We only have twenty-four hours to live, to love, to worship, to pray, to maintain our bodies and to work. Do you feel like twenty-four hours is enough time for you to do everything for yourself and others?
Honestly, I doubt anyone of you will shout back to the screen “Yes!! It is!”. We are all fighting to find more time and yet we come up short every time. Perhaps we live busier lives than God ever intended for us to live. Perhaps there are ways we can scale back so we aren’t stressed and burning the candle at every end.
As we think about women in our life we can begin fellowshipping with, I want us to be guided by this hard truth: we will never have any more time to fellowship, we have to take from the time we already have.
I am completely guilty of having the equation messed up. I used to think I’d fellowship when I had time. But God continuously showed me that there are no more minutes or hours. We have what we have and God, who sits high on His throne, looks at how we spend our time.
Remember the story of Mary and Martha? In short, Martha was frustrated with her sister, Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus instead of helping with dinner arrangements. Too many times we are Martha. Too many times we put preparation ahead of fellowship and intimacy with others and Christ. I hope through this Bible study you can begin to identify days and times where we can forget about what needs to get done and focus on the people God has placed in our life.
Let’s love who we can while we can. I’ve created a small challenge for our first week in Falling into Fellowship. Email devotionals@tobepraised.com to keep me posted on how you’re doing with fellowshipping with others.
Falling into Fellowship Challenge, Week One:
- Add a reminder to your calendar or schedule designate a time in your planner to chat with a woman in your life for 30 minutes. It could be a call, Facetime, Skype, text…whatever works!
- Pray for the woman you want to reach out to. We cannot forget that Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Prayer works. Pray for the woman you want to fellowship with, pray that God keep the designated time open. Pray for safety as you both travel to your destination. Just pray. You can never intercede enough!
- Make a card of encouragement for your sister. Something simple like an index card with a scripture that encourages you in difficult or exciting times could be very helpful. Share it with at the end of your outing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” Let’s fulfill the Word and encourage the women in our lives!
