I have been in a wilderness period of
my life lately.
I think we are always in the wilderness trying to discern the next best step in
our faith, our families and for me the church I serve.
Being
in the wilderness is not always a bad thing.
It
is a time for me to reflect, to look at the things that maybe are not going
well and examine what to do to bring fruit to the work I am doing.
I
find the wilderness to be humbling at times. A time when we realize that maybe
the things we have been doing in the past aren't working and that we need to
move over, through and past certain mountains in order to move forward.
In
this particular wilderness moment for me, I find myself resisting.
Resisting
the way in which the world says I should act as a mother, a wife, a preacher, a
woman
Resisting
the way I am being taught in certain classes and challenging the theology of
people who possibly have never been challenged.
Resisting
what the UMC voted to changed in Jan. 2020 and trying to find a way over that
mountain and storm that is coming.
I am
resisting; and instead of it being a time of confusion and worry; I love it
I am
challenging myself in ways that I never have before, standing up to people I
never thought I could because I feel the fire of women like Shiprah and Puah in
me.
Do
you know these women?
It
is a story in scripture that is often not preached but if it wouldn't have been
for these women many of the Hebrew male babies would have been killed.
Pharaoh
started to get worried that the Hebrew people, the slaves of Egypt, were going
to get too big and thus start an uprising so he thought if the midwives just
killed all the male babies the problem would be solved.
Well,
he didn't count on Shiprah and Puah
You
see, they valued the life of those babies and were in those wilderness moment.
Having
to decide if they should follow Pharaoh or do something a little
different.
They
let the babies live and they told Pharaoh that it wasn't their fault b/c Hebrew
women have babies much faster than Egyptian women and they couldn't get there
in time.
Shiprah
and Puah had fire in them; the fire given to us by God to change things in this
world
The
fire to resist what we are "supposed" to do
Shiprah
and Puah are two of the first women we see in scripture that are resisters, as
they are early on in the Biblical narrative, and they pave the way for many
women resisters to come.
Including
all female clergy that are resisting this week to the comments made by John MacArthur.
John
MacArthur is an influential Pastor and when asked what he thought of author and
Pastor Beth Moore he said he thinks she should "go home" because God
did not intend for women to be Pastors.
He
says that women are not feminist for equality; that they just want power. The
power to Preach, the power to be CEO's, the power to lead educational
institutions
And
he is right, women do want that power because men have had it for themselves
for too long
To
all the female preachers feeling in the wilderness after this comment, resist
it.
Resist
it and let everyone know that you are called by the very God that formed you in
your mother's womb, that named you beloved and called you to Preach the Word of
God for the people of God.
I
think I kind of like being in the wilderness
In
the wilderness, I am finding a new way of standing up for myself
In
the wilderness, I am finding ways to humble myself in the presence of God
In
the wilderness, I am finding that we are really on a wilderness journey for
most of our lives; hoping for the day that God will lead us to our own promised
land and that day will be beautiful, that day all will be equal and that day
Shiprah and Puah will be there to greet me;
And
tell me that I preached the gospel and resisted just as they without fear of
anyone and that is a holy resistance.
One
that Jesus too will see and know that he gave me the very Spirit to do
so.
Blessings
to you all in your wilderness journey and always remember through all of it;
you are enough, you are worthy and you are beloved.
-Pastor
Ali
